


The Building Blocks of Good and Evil

by patriciatepes



Series: Building Blocks Universe [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Darkwing Duck (Cartoon)
Genre: Doppelganger, Evil Twins, F/M, Gen, Post-Season/Series 07, Realm Hopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-02 01:39:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 48,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10934325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciatepes/pseuds/patriciatepes
Summary: When a demon sends Buffy Summers into another dimension, she finds herself in for a bit of a shock. St. Canard finds themselves with another hero to fight by Darkwing Duck's side... and Negaduck is determined to find the city her evil opposite.





	1. Oh, Duck

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crack crossover that I took and made not-crack. How did I do it? Well, you'll just have to read and find out! Also, this was written ages ago for NaNoWriMo 2010, and I have a new fic set in this same world (but with one major difference) coming out this summer as part of a Bang challenge.

 

 

Being one slayer of many had not made Buffy's job much easier. She had thought, at first, that maybe she would try to live the normal, All-American lifestyle. She had enrolled Dawn in some little, out of the way rural high school. She had gotten a job as a receptionist in some medical office. And all her friends went their separate ways. Willow, Giles, and Kennedy had decided that the slayers that had been made could not be left to their own devices. Together, with the other slayers that had fought in the Battle of Sunnydale—as if it was some battle that would make the history books someday, which Buffy doubted—the three of them had formed the New Watchers' Council. And of all plans, Buffy had been the most uneasy about that.

But she had stayed out of it. She had refused to look for or train the new slayers, despite how often Willow and Giles asked her. For three years, she managed to life that normal life. Long enough for Dawn to graduate from high school like a normal girl. Xander had shown up for the graduation, informing Buffy that he had tried his hand at a "normal life" too.

"It didn't work," he had said, smiling as Dawn strode proudly across the stage.

Buffy's smile, pride shining from her for her sister, faltered. She had glanced at Xander, who shrugged.

"I just kept… I don't know, Buffy… seeing monsters everywhere. And every time I was just going to walk on by, I couldn't help but think: Somebody is going to die. And I knew how to stop it. And I'd end up getting involved."

At which point, he had stopped, laughed, and tapped his eye patch.

"Believe it or not, mysterious man with an eye patch saving a girl from evil? Apparently a major turn on."

Dawn had retaken her seat and was now waving at her sister, pointing to her diploma, mouthing "I did it, I did it" over and over.

Xander and Buffy both smiled and nodded at Dawn. Finally, as the principal of the school stood up to make his closing speech, Xander leaned back over to Buffy.

"I really don't know how you have been staying away from the whole 'saving the day' gig," he said.

There was a momentary silence between the two then, nothing but the principal's voice droning over the speakers filling the gym. Finally, Buffy rested her elbow on the arm of her chair, rested her head in her hand.

"Actually, I haven't been staying away, Xander. I mean, I haven't been slaying as much as I used to… but every so often, like you said, when it couldn't be missed to someone who lived in Sunnydale, I would swoop in, and, like you said, save the day."

She sighed and bit her bottom lip, closing her eyes. She could almost feel the confusion radiating from her friend.

"You act like you're ashamed. Like it's some sort of drug you've tried to kick, and failed. I don't get it."

"But I _did_ try to stop, Xan. I tried to give Dawn a normal life, a life she deserved. But every time I would save the day, go out at night here in this new town and kill a monster, I would get closer and closer to slipping back into that life, a slayer's life. And I get closer to ruining the normality I've built for Dawn."

Buffy felt close to tears. If she was honest with herself, this so called "normal life," was boring the living daylights out of her. Every day of going to work, coming home, cooking dinner, helping Dawn with her homework, and then going to bed just to start it all over again was getting closer and closer to driving her absolutely crazy. It just felt like, every day, she was just waiting, _hoping_ for something to happen. Anything. Apocalypse, demon cult, anything! She expected Xander to lean back against his seat, and uncomfortably ignore her little confession. However, he simply chuckled. She turned, glared, and shook her head.

"What the hell, Xander? I pour my heart out, and you laugh? It hasn't been easy, you know!"

Xander held his hands up defensively. "I know, I know. It's just… Buff, you _really_ make it sound like you were some sort of drug addict who keeps falling off the wagon. What you do is a _good_ thing, Buffy. Never doubt that. We've all kept it up, Buffy. Even Dawn."

The principal instructed the students to move their tassels, and Buffy's shock was delayed for a moment as she clapped for her sister. As soon as the procession of high school graduates were led out of the gym, Buffy—as the fellow guests began to stand and follow them out—turned to Xander.

"What the hell do you mean, 'even Dawn'?"

Xander had stood only to roll his single eye and fall back into his seat beside Buffy.

"She made me promise not to tell, but I thought it'd make you feel better. Dawn's been helping me by doing my research when I go out looking for the big bads. She's gotten really great at it. Willow's even tapped her for helping with the training of the newer slayers."

And that was the night that she had considered herself "back in." Giles, Willow, Spike, and the whole gang of Scoobies had arrived to see Dawnie graduate. She had stridden out of the gym, ready to give her little sister a piece of mind. How dare Dawn do such a thing? But as soon as she had seen all of her friends, whom she had not seen in at least three years, her heart melted. And following a hug and "congratulations" to Dawn, her next words were spoken to Willow.

"I want back in."

That was five months ago. She managed to get out of her apartment's lease, and get Dawn enrolled in an online college. The two then moved to the newly established Slayer Headquarters in an old castle in Scotland, and Buffy assumed her—as Giles put it, "rightful"—role as leader of the new slayers. Dawn took over helping Giles with the research groups, which comprised itself mostly of newly arrived, undertrained slayers, Giles, and Dawn.

And two nights earlier, the group had stumbled upon a doozey of a problem. A demon had popped up on the Cleveland Hellmouth, causing more trouble than that Hellmouth was used to seeing—which, being a Hellmouth, was saying something. The demon's minions were spreading all over the city, killing without remorse, and draining their victims of blood. Rumor had it that, instead of drinking it, they were storing it away. And for what was only someone's guess. But Buffy figured it was for what demons usually gathered blood for.

"A ritual," she said as the group that she had gathered to take of this problem moved into position.

The demon and his lackeys had gathered inside an abandoned warehouse on the bad side of town—as all cities had one. Even from the place where the slayers had gathered, several hundred feet back from the building, they could still hear the droning of chanting. And an odd, red-colored light was leaking from the building's high windows.

"Yes, but a ritual to what end?" Giles asked, adjusting the crossbow in his hands.

"Killing people? Just a guess," Buffy replied, shrugging.

"It's often a little more complicated than that. I would have thought that you'd know that by now, Buffy."

The slayer chose to ignore that one as she turned toward her group. It was a rather formidable one, if she did say so herself, save for the absence of Willow. Willow was busy in South America, gathering together a group of young women who had recently discovered their slayer abilities and had decided to go just the tiniest bit rouge. To be honest, Buffy had thought that maybe, just maybe, she ought to have gone with her powerfully witchy friend. But, for some reason, her attention had been drawn to the blood-gathering, ritual demon. There was something just… off about this demon.

"His name is Kae'uqs," Dawn said, reading from a tome that Buffy thought was a bit too heavy to bring on a demon hunt. "He's known as The Keeper of Destiny, the Guardian of Keys, and the Opener of Doorways."

"'Opener of Doorways'?" Cassandra—a bright, intelligent slayer and one of the first to complete the preliminary training set up by Willow and Giles—asked. "What kind of name is that? It's not exactly frightening, is it?"

"Or mysterious," Allie—an Asian-American slayer who had gained quite a reputation for a swift kill—put in.

"We can ask him right before we lop his head off," Buffy interrupted. Then, on a second thought, she added, turning toward her sister, "We _do_ lop his head off, don't we, Dawnie?"

Dawn, her hair now cut to shoulder length and currently tied back into a low ponytail, flipped through the dusty pages of her tome. Skimming one thin index finger down a page, she finally nodded.

"Yup. An iron axe to the neck ought to do the trick."

Buffy twirled such an axe in her hand, only to catch it and hold it close to her. The other slayers, Dawn, and even Giles were similarly armed.

"Then let's do this," she said.

She heard Dawn set the book down upon the cold asphalt as she darted her way over to the demon's warehouse. She stopped at the two, large metal doors just long enough to make sure her group was there to back her up. Finally, a small smile upon her face, she said, "Let's not knock."

Lifting her right leg, she delivered a swift kick to the center where the doors met, sending them both flying open.

"Anybody home?" the Chosen One called.

Immediately the demon's minions, all of whom were obscured by their long black robes, rose from their knees, whirling upon the group. A quick count told Buffy that they were outnumbered, four to one, but she had been through worse. She brandished the axe again, and flipped back her blonde ponytail.

"I'm going to guess that you didn't check to see if demonic rituals were within the zoning rights for this area, am I right?"

The minions roared, their hoods falling back to reveal grotesque faces of black and green. They were terribly malformed, with their eyes being where their mouth should be, their mouth being where their nose should be, and horns being where their eyes should be. A nose was completely missing.

But at their center, lowering his own hood was their leader, Kae'uqs. All his face-parts were exactly where they should be—save for the addition of spiraling horns and the fact that he was a deep purple color—and he smiled down upon Buffy and her group, laughing.

"The Chosen One is mine!" he cried out, throwing his arms out in front of him.

The demon minions rushed forward, totally ignoring Buffy as they went. She even managed to chop off a few heads without much of a fight before she had to rush forward. Sounds of metal meeting claws and slicing flesh met her ears, but she ignored them as she moved to face off with the master. Her stomach curled, just a bit, as she stomped over pools of blood—human blood, she knew—to reach Kae'uqs.

He had not moved down from his raised dais. As still as a statue he stood, arms now crossed low across his torso, smiling at the slayer approaching him. Buffy held her weapon tight against her body, tense and ready for a fight. Kae'uqs's smile did not waver in the least as, finally, she stepped up near him. He did not even retreat from her.

His confidence worried her. But she would not let him know that.

"This is over. Whatever this is," Buffy said, casting a quick eye to her bloody surroundings.

He laughed a deep, roaring, throaty laugh that shook her to her very core. She had gone up against worse, she knew this, but something about this demon was unsettling her big time. Shaking his head, he uncrossed his arms and held a hand out. For a moment, Buffy thought that he was offering her to take it, and her stomach tightened with disgust. But he grinned, moving it so that it gestured to the surrounds.

"Slayer, you come to destroy me, yet you do not understand what it is I do. Humans never cease to amaze me in their ignorance," he said, his voice just as deep as his laugh, making Buffy think of sickly sweet cough syrup.

She had never liked cough syrup. Give her a pill any day.

"You kill people. That's all I need to know."

Again, that booming laugh.

"Such bravado. Slayer, this is all for _you_. Destiny has seen it fit that our paths might cross, and that I might play a role in what is to come for you. I am simply doing just that."

Buffy twirled her iron axe. Talk was cheap, or so they said. And she figured that talking with a demon was even cheaper. Behind her, her fellow slayers and family fought the horde of demon minions that Kae'uqs had sent at them. She dared to steal a glance behind her. She quickly spotted the slayers she had brought with her, bruised and cut, but alive. Giles was in a similar state. Dawn, thankfully, had not a mark on her as she fought on just as ferociously as any slayer. Buffy turned her attention back to Kae'uqs.

"Do you know how often that I hear that? A lot. Oh yeah. And not just from demons. Vampires, too. So if we could just, you know, fight and get this over with?"

"Miss Summers, my destiny is not to fight you."

Buffy's eyes widened. "How do you know my name?"

She realized it was a stupid question. She was the Chosen One. Not only that, she was the one who had shared her power with many. Of course she was known throughout the demon underworld. Wasn't she?

"Our paths are intertwined at this junction, Slayer."

More sounds of weapons meeting claws and flesh slicing. She heard Allie cry out, but she could not turn away from Kae'uqs.

"You feel it, do you not? You can feel that tonight is not like any other."

With that, his arms raised and he began to chant in some strange demon language that Buffy had never heard. Andrew, since her return to the life of a Slayer, had taken it upon himself to begin to teach her such things… but just as when she took French in high school, it was not going well.

"Bad move," she said, lifting her axe. "Leaving yourself all open like that."

But as she started to bring the weapon across his neck, a grunt of pain caught her attention. She turned to see Dawn, her weapon clattering to the warehouse's cement floor, clutching her stomach.

"Dawn!" Buffy cried, her eyes wide.

She leapt down from the dais, hacking and slicing her way to her sister. Meanwhile, Kae'uqs's chanting continued.

"Dawn!"

Another demon minion in her way. Another demon minion without a head. Dawn was now on her knees on the floor, and something had changed. It did not look like she was clutching her stomach in pain, so much as clutching it to keep something in. Buffy's stomach lurched, fearing the worst. Kae'uqs's chanting grew louder. Suddenly, Buffy stopped.

Leaking out from under Dawn's crossed arms was a bright, green light. And it seemed to be growing. The chanting stopped, and Buffy turned back towards Kae'uqs.

"Destiny is ours tonight, Slayer!" he cried.

"What have you done to her?"

Buffy began to run toward the demon, ready to put an end to all of this. But Dawn cut her move short.

"Buffy!" she cried out.

The Chosen One turned just in time to see a luminous green light burst forth from her sister's body, unchecked. It blinded her, and she shielded her eyes as it completely filled the warehouse.

"Dawn!" Buffy yelled back, but suddenly, she felt woozy.

She felt herself falling and hitting a hard floor, her axe mysteriously gone from her hands. And before she knew it, all she could see was blackness.

#

Buffy groaned, her head pounding. She tried to open her eyes, but they did not seem to want to work at the moment. So she lay there, relishing in the pleasant chill of the concrete floor below her. However, her mind did not let her rest for long. Images of the green light bursting forth from her little sister flashed before her eyes, and she forced them to flicker open. And one thing was immediately clear.

She was not in the warehouse anymore.

"Or in Kansas, I take it," she muttered, hoping that somehow, somewhere, Xander would be proud of that joke.

Everything looked, in a word, _weird_. In two words: mondo weird. And in three words: super freaky weird. Colors were… more vibrant than she remembered, but not so vibrant that they stood out as being especially strange. In fact, she felt like she was suddenly in a toned-down version of _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_ Only no overly sexed red heads, and, like she had noticed before, not as vibrantly different than her own skin tones and such. Everything in the strange place had a slight, cartoony feel to it, but not. It was not easy to explain or comprehend.

She cast her gaze upwards, noting the strange gadgets that hung from the ceiling, and the raised platform that loomed in front of her. It had to be several feet high, and finally noticing the high windows, the place itself had a distinctly tower feel to it.

"Uh, Dad?" a voice to her left suddenly called. "Dad!"

Buffy turned, and this time she thought for sure that her eyes were just going to roll right out of her skull. A duck with red hair wearing a light purple jersey shirt that had the number one on it, who stood probably no higher than her knees, looked wide-eyed at Buffy. In the place of wings where they should be on ducks, feathered arms and four-fingered hands were instead. She still possessed the webbed feet, though.

"Dad!" the duck called again, and Buffy was sure that this was a little girl duck.

"What is _it_ , Gosalyn? Daddy's busy!" came a reply from atop the tall platform.

"Oh my God," Buffy breathed, and the girl duck—Gosalyn—gasped.

"Keen gear! What are you?" she asked, taking a tentative step forward.

"Whoa now, Gos. Be careful. I mean, Me and DW have seen this type of creature before. She's a human," another duck—this one probably standing Buffy's full height, dressed like a pilot with a tuft of red hair poking out from under his aviator's cap—said.

"Wow," Gosalyn breathed.

"Where am I?" Buffy asked, still sitting on the cold stone floor.

She heard a voice clear itself and looked up to see a big billed duck dressed in a purple suit, hat, and cape standing before her.

"Well, you're definitely not in Kansas," he said, crossing his arms.


	2. A Little LIke Alice

 

[ ](http://pics.livejournal.com/patriciatepes/pic/00005zqk/)

 

 

"What the hell!" Buffy shouted, leaping to her feet.

She and the three ducks each took a few paces backwards. The purple-clad one—the only one from whom she had yet to catch a name—held up his feathered hands, trying his best to control the situation.

"Now, calm down, Miss. It'll be all right," he said, trying his best to take a non-threatening step forward.

But there was very little that Buffy was considering "non-threatening" at the present moment. She took an offensive stance, ready to attack the strange duck-demons that stood before her.

Because they _had_ to be demons. There was no other explanation for it. A demon hurt Dawn, and used her little sister to zap her to a place full of duck demons. It made complete sense to her at the moment. But she was still pretty freaked out. She was nowhere near being calm, and her explanation was already beginning to sound a little ludicrous. Then, like a lightbulb went off over her head, her mind circled back around to a central thought.

"Dawn," she said. "Where's Dawn?"

The three ducks exchanged looks and shrugged. Gosalyn took the tiniest of steps forward.

"Uh… who's Dawn?" she asked.

Buffy looked down at the little girl… duckling. She was beginning to rethink her whole "demon duck" theory. It was very true that sometimes the most innocent looking demon could be the deadliest—case in point, Anya or even that action figure-sized fear demon—but there was something just so… non-demon-like about the girl—duck.

Gosalyn glanced back over at the purple suited duck and shrugged. He gave her an encouraging nod, but still motioned for her to step back. It was his turn to speak.

"Look, maybe we've gotten off on the wrong foot here," he said. "I mean, we were all caught off guard, what with you just popping up here and all."

Buffy's brain was still reeling. At the mention of "the wrong foot," her eyes had drifted downward to the ducks' collective webbed feet. She bit down a giggle. Forcing her eyes upward, she nodded.

"Who are you?" she asked. "What are you? Are you demons?"

Again, another exchange of looks between the three. The pilot-looking one chuckled.

"Ah, shucks, we aren't demons. My name's Launchpad McQuack," he said, extending a feathered hand for her to shake.

Buffy only nodded in acknowledgement, and Launchpad dropped his hand, disappointment clear on his face.

"My name's Darkwing Duck," the purple-clad one said with a flourish, removing his large brimmed hat and sweeping it low into a bow.

"And I'm Gosalyn," the duckling said. "What's your name? And why would you think that we're demons? I mean, if I popped up in a strange place, I don't know that that would be what I'd think of first."

"Gos, you spend your allowance renting horror films from the local video store… I think you probably _would_ jump to demons first," Darkwing said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Gosalyn crossed her own arms, pouting. "Would not! …I'd probably think zombie slug monsters first."

Darkwing sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. _That's_ different."

"So wait, wait!" Buffy said, throwing up her hands. "You guys aren't demons?"

"Didn't we already say that?" Darkwing asked, causing Launchpad to shrug and nod.

"Wait a second!" Gosalyn said, raising her voice. "Hold the phone! Launchpad, you said you and Dad… uh, Darkwing, met one of these people before. Where was that? And where was I?"

"Yeah, you're taking this a heck of a lot better than I am," Buffy admitted.

Darkwing shrugged. "Don't get me wrong. You're a complete stranger who just happened to randomly appear in my secret hideout. And my daughter just _happened_ to let it slip that she was just that: my daughter… I'm more than a little… off guard. But you don't seem to be a threat. Except that you seem to be expecting a fight."

"Oh, well… I was kind of in the middle of a life and death one when I was pulled from… well, home."

"Were you caught in television channels too?" Darkwing asked.

Buffy's eyes narrowed. She shook her head slowly.

"Then how'd you get here?" Launchpad asked.

"Yeah, and who's Dawn? You mentioned that name after you woke up," Gosalyn added.

Buffy took a seat on the floor again. It was quite a bit to take in. Outside she could hear what she could have sworn was traffic coming from far below where she now sat, followed by the sound of a helicopter. She glanced up at the high, arched windows and frowned a bit.

"A demon sent me here," she answered, trying to pull it together. She was the slayer after all… The Chosen One. She had been through worse than talking ducks and lived to tell about it. "And Dawn's my sister. Uh… where _is_ here, by the way?"

Darkwing tilted his head a bit sympathetically. "Gos, why don't you get our guest some coffee?"

"Okay," she said. "But don't think that you'll get rid of me that easily."

As soon as she was gone, Darkwing turned his attention back to Buffy. "And how about you tell us your name, if you don't mind."

"Oh… yeah. Buffy. My name is Buffy Summers."

"Buffy… really?" Darkwing asked, one brow arched.

Buffy returned the look. "Yeah."

He shrugged. "All right. So… what in the heck were you doing fighting a demon in your… well, wherever you're from?"

"I am a slayer… a vampire slayer," Buffy explained as Gosalyn returned with a steaming white mug of java.

The duckling stopped, her eyes growing wide with wonder.

"Keen gear! No joke?" she said, extending the mug to her.

Buffy took it with a nod and a muttered, "thank you." She took a sip, expecting it to taste strange or something… but it just tasted like plain old coffee… maybe a bit burnt from being in the pot too long.

"So, you're a hero from your world?" Darkwing asked.

Buffy shrugged. "I suppose so. Not many people know I exist. And you say 'your world' like I'm from a different planet."

"Well, the last being that I met that looked sort of like you _was_ from another planet… or from another dimension."

Now it was Buffy's eyes that grew large. "That's why the demon used Dawn… I _am_ in another dimension!"

She rose to her feet, shaking her head. Darkwing stepped forward, gently taking the coffee from her.

"Another dimension?" he asked.

She turned, nodded. Then, smiling a bit, she added, "I know that must sound a little crazy, but—"

He held up a free hand, shaking his head. "No, trust me. I believe in alternate dimensions. Let's just leave it at that. So, you're a hero and no one knows about you. Preaching to the choir here. What's the problem, bad publicist?"

"What? No. My world _can't_ know about me. It's for the greater good. Most people don't even know that the monsters I fight exist either. Most people don't believe in vampires, demons, or anything like that anymore."

"It's pretty much the same here… although they do exist," Darkwing agreed.

"How do you know about them? Do you fight them?" Buffy asked.

Gosalyn and Launchpad laughed.

"No. Dad's dating a witch. Her name is Morgana Macawber," Gos said through giggles.

"Gos!" Darkwing said.

"Don't worry," Buffy giggled when Darkwing turned a bit red in the face. "I only go after bad witches. Actually, my best friend's a witch. And come to think of it, your witch girlfriend might be able to help send me home."

"Sounds like a plan," Launchpad put in.

"Then what're we waiting for?" Darkwing asked, whirling.

He threw up a hand, a single finger extended and exclaimed, "To the Ratcatcher!"

"What the heck is a Ratcatcher?" Buffy asked.

But before she could get an answer, a loud, static noise came from the tall platform in front of the group. A monotone voice announced over what sounded like a very old speaker, " _Calling all cars, calling all cars…_ "

"My police radio," Darkwing said, zooming up the ladder. The rest followed after.

As soon as Buffy's feet hit the top of the platform, she paused. High tech gadgets hung and sat all around her, from lab equipment to satellite looking things. This place would be Willow's wonderland. But Buffy's marveling did not last for long. The voice returned over the police radio, making a desperate call to all cops in the vicinity of the downtown area.

" _Negaduck is on the rampage. I repeat, Negaduck is on the rampage in St. Canard Square. He appears to be making a destructive beeline for the new shopping mall down on fifth. All cars report immediately._ "

"Speaking of alternate dimensions," Darkwing muttered before turning to Launchpad and Buffy. "Sorry, Buffy, our trip to Macawber Manor will have to wait. I must go stop my fiendishly furious foe."

"Well… let me help," Buffy said as Darkwing slid down the ladder, followed by Launchpad.

"What?" Darkwing said, hitting the floor and turning. He only narrowly side-stepped Launchpad, who landed very ungracefully on his backside.

"Look, fighting the bad guys is what I do in my world… dimension… whatever. And until I get back to it… at least let me help you out. Otherwise, I won't know what to do with myself."

"No. No way. Nuh-uh. Out of the question," Darkwing said, shaking his head. "You aren't even from this world. How do you even know that we're telling you the truth? That we're the good guys and Negaduck's the bad guy?"

Buffy slid down the ladder, landing on her feet just as the police radio started up again.

" _Negaduck has just demolished the St. Webby's Convalescent Home. The residents there just barely made it out with their lives. Body count for the injured and the dead are undetermined._ "

Buffy pointed upward. "That's how I know. Now come on. I promise, I won't get in your way. I know what I'm doing."

" _Negaduck has now also destroyed the Children's Hospital Memorial Fountain_."

"Gee, DW, an extra pair of hands when dealing with Negaduck never hurts," Launchpad called from somewhere out of sight.

Darkwing sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine, fine, fine. You can come."

"Can I come too?" Gosalyn asked, joining the group now.

"Nope, and I'm not giving in on that one. You stay here. Come on, Buffy. Let's go!"

Buffy nodded and followed, leaving a fuming Gosalyn muttering behind her.


	3. And It's Not Any Easier

The world outside Darkwing Tower still had that blocky, vaguely cartoonish look to it. Buffy had decided that the best description for it was almost like being in a world of three dimensional, hand painted television sets. She tried to get a good look at her surroundings, but it was quite difficult at the speeds Darkwing was driving at.

The Ratcatcher—a funny name for a motorcycle, Buffy thought—zoomed around corners and down streets with barely a screech of a tire. Buffy tried to stare up at the passing skyscrapers, but found that that gave her a bit of motion sickness. Instead, she brought her focus back down to Darkwing—who was in front of her—and Launchpad, who was seated comfortably in the sidecar. She leaned around ever so slightly to give her full attention to the masked duck, holding on to her seat with one hand and placing a hand on the loaned helmet atop her head.

"So, the city's name… it's St. Canard, right?" she yelled over the roaring winds.

"Yeah," Darkwing responded.

"And this Negaduck person… he's a…?"

"Villain," Darkwing filled in. "Don't you have villains in your world?"

"Yeah, we do. But it's not as cut and dried there as you make it sound here. My job, and the job of the law enforcement in my world, would be a heck of a lot easier if that was the case."

They whirled around another corner, and Buffy was forced to hold on with both hands for a moment. Once they were on a straightaway again, she leaned in again to continue the conversation.

"So, what _exactly_ is your job?" she asked.

"I'm a hero," Darkwing responded, and Buffy could almost feel his chest puff out in pride. The slayer's brow narrowed.

"You mean, like a vigilante? Like Batman?"

Darkwing spared just a moment's glance back at her, confusion written all over his face.

"Uh… yeah. Sure."

"Whoa! DW, look!" Launchpad yelled, pointing skyward.

The Ratcatcher came to a screeching halt, nearly tossing its passengers over the handlebars. Buffy was sure her eyes were as large as saucers as she gazed up at the monstrous form above her.

"What in the freakin' hell…?" she muttered.

But Darkwing and Launchpad were already piling off the motorcycle. Buffy unsnapped her helmet and tossed it carelessly to the side, throwing herself to the street. She ran to stand shoulder to shoulder with the two ducks.

"Greetings, Do-gooders!" a deep, menacing voice rang down over a large speaker mounted to the top of the massive vehicle that was stopped and revving before the group.

It was a monster truck, painted black with crimson and yellow flames on either side. Silver pipes on either side faced forward and occasionally shot flames that were so intensely hot that Buffy had to fight recoiling. And, underneath those flame-throwing pipes were giant, extendable arms, two on each side, with each one holding a running chainsaw.

"This is… unreal," Buffy said, shaking her head.

"That's Negaduck," Launchpad nodded.

Suddenly, a head poked itself out of the driver side window. Buffy let out a small gasp. The duck that was driving the truck—Negaduck—looked exactly like Darkwing, only dressed in the same colors that his truck was painted in.

"You guys are twins," Buffy said, glancing over at her purple-clad companion.

"That's how I know about other dimensions. His world is known as the Negaverse," Darkwing said, withdrawing a black and purple, big barreled gun from somewhere within his cape. Buffy would have to find out how he did that later. That kind of trick could really save on closet space.

Negaduck, for his part, looked mightily confused. His heavy brow was narrowed as he gazed down upon his three opponents.

"What the hell is that thing?" he shouted, pointing down at Buffy.

"Hey!" she shouted back. "I'll have you know that I've eaten roasted duck tougher than you!"

She could feel the glances from both Darkwing and Launchpad, but ignored them. Instead, she focused in on the wicked little chuckling that Negaduck was doing now as he revved his truck even louder.

"Oh, really?" he sneered. "Well, blondie, we'll see about that!"

"Get ready," Darkwing said, taking aim with his gun.

The monster truck actually reared back, like and animal about to pounce, before it began to bare down upon them. Buffy planted her feet, waiting to take her cue from Darkwing. After all, it was his world.

With a quick pull of the trigger, a large pellet shot from the masked duck's gun, flying upward to collide with Negaduck's windshield. Even over the loud motor, Buffy could hear Negaduck cry out in indignant surprise.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night!" Darkwing shouted as the truck got ever closer. "I am the sliver of glass that causes your blowout! I am… Darkwing Duck!"

"I thought he knew that," Buffy muttered. Louder, she added, pointing, "He's going to squish us!"

"I _see_ that!" Darkwing shouted as Launchpad leapt to the right, out of the line of fire.

Darkwing and the slayer both exchanged a look, a silent conversation passing between them, discussing their options. If they leapt out of the way, they would both be safe… but who knew what or who Negaduck would squish instead.

"But we can't very well just yell stop," Darkwing yelled.

"Leave it to me," Buffy said suddenly.

She took off at a dead run, heading for the truck like she was going to tackle it. She could see the evil grin on Negaduck's beak just before she disappeared from his view. Leaping at just the right moment, and careful to keep moving, she landed on the front, oversized tire and then onto the hood of the truck.

"What the—?" Negaduck cried out.

"What's she doing?" Launchpad yelled from his place on the ground.

Buffy turned to see Darkwing leap out of the way, and she yelled down at him, "Be ready!" His face was twisted into an odd mix of reactions, but finally, he only nodded at her as the truck zoomed past. Negaduck began to jerk his steering wheel, laughing as he did, trying to throw Buffy off. She caught herself just in time and pulled back her arm.

"I'd shield my face, if I were you," she said, releasing her punch.

The windshield shattered without a problem, and Negaduck had taken her advice, his face covered by one arm. Buffy was not about to give up such an advantage as an opponent that was not looking. She reached through the shattered glass, grabbing the evil duck up by the scruff of his neck, and yanked him out of the truck, holding him aloft.

"What are you doing, you crazy dame?" he yelled, but Buffy ignored him.

"Heads up, Darkwing!" she shouted.

Careful not to use all of her slayer strength, she hurled Negaduck down to Darkwing. The caped duck could not help but grin up at her as Negaduck landed, hard, groaning.

"Got him! You stop the truck!" he said.

Buffy nodded, and noted, just before sliding into the driver's seat, that Negaduck had not taken much time to recover as he leapt up to attack his do-gooding twin. But Buffy had bigger problems at the moment as she wedged herself—after all, Darkwing and Negaduck both were a lot smaller than she was—behind the wheel.

"Buffy hates cars, and cars hate Buffy," she groaned, pushing both feet down onto the brake… only to have a huge gush of flame shoot out in front of her. "Not brake!"

She felt with both feet, an odd experience, for another pedal that could be the brake, while trying to keep the vehicle on the road.

"Brake, brake, where's the friggin' brake?" she said, ducking her head down to have a look for herself.

There were three, large black pedals. She was going to guess that the one that was furthest right was the gas, and that she had hit the middle one… which apparently was "flame thrower."

"That leaves left!" she shouted, pulling her head back up in time to yell, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

A little old woman—a dog, Buffy thought—walker and all, with frizzled white hair and dressed in a quaint little blue dress had decided, apparently, to take a midnight stroll across the road amongst all the havoc that Negaduck had wreaked.

"This stuff just does not happen!" she shouted, putting all her weight down upon the left pedal.

Thankfully, her assumption about the brake was correct as the wheels came to a dead halt, causing rubber to burn, a large squeal to emit from underneath her, and a dangerous slide to begin. She came to a stop, finally, just in front of the old lady… who only huffed up at her. Buffy grasped for the key—which had a fluffy bunny foot attached to it—and turned the truck off. And just for an extra precaution, she began to beat in the dashboard—which was littered with all different types of colored buttons that were labeled with such things as "bombs," "chainsaws," and "dogs." Once the inside of the truck was way beyond an easy repair, she kicked open the driver's door and jumped down to the ground. She muttered a quick apology to the old lady, and took off on a dead run to the fight that was still ongoing between Negaduck and Darkwing.

She came to a skidding halt only when she was shoulder to shoulder with Launchpad. Huffing and puffing, she rested her hands on her knees, her eyes locked on the dust cloud that was the hero and villain engaged in battle.

"Should we help?" she asked once she had caught her breath.

Launchpad shook his head. "Nah. DW's got this."

A moment more of watching the fight passed before Launchpad turned to the slayer once more.

"Um, Buffy… you were joking about eating duck… right?"

She glanced over at him, who she noticed for the first time was not actually her height but a half a head smaller than her. She liked the tallness that came with her being in this dimension. She grinned what was hopefully a comforting grin and shrugged.

"Yeah, Launchpad. Yeah, of course I was."

He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and Buffy bit her lip, trying to contain the little guilty laugh that was threatening to break loose. A cry of pain drew her attention back to the fight in time to see a mass of purple hurdling toward her and Launchpad. It collided with the two of them, each of them making "oomph" noises, as they fell to the ground.

"Ow," Buffy muttered, sitting up on her elbows. Her eyes widened as she looked down to see a dazed Darkwing lying in her lap. "Are you all right?"

"A-o… okay," he groaned as Buffy and Launchpad pulled themselves out from underneath him.

They pulled the flapping terror to his feet, making sure he was steady before letting him go. With a shake of his head, he was back into action, his hands up and ready for a fight.

"Where'd Negaduck go?" he asked, looking wildly around.

Buffy and Launchpad both did circles. But the streets, save for the destruction caused by their fight, were bare. Negaduck was gone.

#

If there was thing Negaduck hated more than do-gooding heroes flocking together to stop his plans… well, it was do-gooding heroes flocking together to stop his plans! Safely hidden from Darkwing's sight, in an alley several feet from the Masked Mallard, his big oaf of a sidekick, and his newest super freak friend, Negaduck glowered down upon them.

"You were really amazing, Buffy!" Launchpad was exclaiming, staring at wonder at the weird girl.

She smiled, shrugging as, behind her, Darkwing rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, really great. You didn't mention having super powers," he said.

Negaduck scoffed. Darkwing's ego was bruised. Ah, for small victories. But the girl-creature, Buffy, only shrugged again.

"Comes with being the slayer," she said.

Slayer. Now _that_ was a word that Negaduck could really get to like. It was a shame that it was apparently attached to a goody-goody.

"Slayers are born with the strength and agility necessary to fight vampires… and well, whatever else gets thrown our way," Buffy explained.

"So, not everybody in your world has super powers?" Darkwing asked, seeming to become a bit more relaxed.

"Your world"? Negaduck's eyes narrowed. What could Dipwing have meant by that?

"What? No, of course not. Why would you think that?" Buffy responded.

"Well, it's just that the last human I met with super powers came from a whole planet full of super powered beings. But your dimension isn't like that?"

"No. My world would have some major troubles if _everyone_ had powers like slayers, witches, demons… and whatever else I've run in to."

Negaduck's eyes grew wide. Her _dimension_? She was from another dimension? Now that was interesting information!

A wicked little thought was forming and the proverbial lightbulb was shining over his head. After all, he knew quite a bit about other dimensions. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to put that knowledge to good use… or evil use, rather.

"Time to make a trip home," he muttered, turning, and slinking off down the alleyway.

 


	4. To Each Their Own

 

 

 

The Negaverse was looking much like Darkwing Duck had never set one webbed foot inside of it. Which was just the way that Negaduck liked it. From his window in The Tower, he gazed happily upon the cracked and broken streets, and drank in the smog filled air. Not one bush was covered with a green leaf, and not one pool of water was crystalline. All the work that the Friendly Four had done had now been undone, and quite easily too.

Negaduck put his back on the view to gaze down at his own little NegaGang—comprised of Binkie, Herb, and Honker Muddlefoot and his own Negaverse version of Launchpad. His group was busily preparing a large iron cauldron, which was bubbling and gurgling away like a sour stomach. Green, filmy bubbles of the liquid within the cauldron kept rising up and popping, releasing a foul smell like rotten eggs. Negaduck loved it.

He had thought that his little trip into oblivion when Darkwing had pulled the Universal Plug had been the end of him. That Dipwing and his justice-loving trainees, the Friendly Four, had won. But when he had been pulled, at the last moment, through the door that lead to the Negaverse right before both disappeared into the abyss, Negaduck had taken that as a sign.

The Negaverse was priority one. His castle, so to speak, from which he was to rule his empire—which he took to mean whatever other dimensions that he could happen upon. So he had returned, triumphant, and trussed up the Friendly Four in a fight that lasted surprisingly shorter than he would have imagined. They were now locked up elsewhere within The Tower. As for his own little rebellious Gosalyn, she was under permanent house arrest until he could think of a better use for her.

He descended the spiral metal staircase down to the main floor of The Tower, both hands clasped behind his back. Instantly, his NegaGang snapped to attention, cowering back as he approached the ever bubbling cauldron. He grinned.

"Lord Negaduck, it's an honor that you have returned to us once more," Herb said, the chains on his biker outfit rattling as he bowed.

"Oh yes, and quite a miracle, from what I heard, Lord Negaduck," Binkie added, following her husband's lead.

"And what does that mean?" Negaduck growled.

Honker rushed forward and bowed deeply, only looking up again when he spoke in his parents' defense.

"Lord Negaduck, they only meant that we heard that you had been sucked into oblivion! We're happy to have you among us."

"Yeah, boss," NegaLaunchpad said, making no move to bow. "How'd you escape oblivion?"

"I have my ways," Negaduck said. "And how did you knobs learn about that mess anyhow?"

"Morgana told us. She also told us that we were cut off from that Dipwing's world now," Launchpad replied.

Negaduck glowered him into taking a few steps back before he grinned again. His world's version of Morgana was quite a different person than Darkwing's Morgana. NegaMorgana was a wicked good time, and wickedly powerful. In fact, years ago, when she had made the decision that she would do _anything_ to become the most powerful witch in the Negaverse, she had begun to steal powers and spells and potions from whomever or whatever she crossed. And, eventually, she had stolen a couple of little spells that had proven quite useful to Negaduck.

"Not quite," Negaduck said, giving Launchpad a good smack across the back of the head for good measure. "You see, Morgana tore us a little hole, a new exit from this world into Darkwing's."

"So what's the plan now, oh mighty Lord Negaduck? Go into Dipwing's world and smash it, crash it, trash it, and burn it into a fiery ash?" Honker said, jumping for joy.

"No," Negaduck drawled, turning to the cauldron.

He could almost feel the confusion radiating from his gang behind him.

"Uh… then what, boss?" Launchpad asked.

"Tell me, Launchpad, have you ever heard of Multiverse Theory?" he asked, gazing down into the sickly churning green liquid.

Again, he could feel the confusion. He rolled his eyes. He would pick intelligent minions if it would not add the worry of betrayal. Keep them dumb, keep them loyal. He sighed.

"Of course you haven't," he said. "Well, let me see if I can dumb it down for you. Multiverse Theory says that for every dimension, there are an infinite number of parallel universes to it. Now, some of these worlds are very similar, and some of them are very different. You follow?"

"Uh… uh-huh," his NegaGang muttered in unison. He sighed again.

"Now, recently, when I was in Darkwing's world, I saw that he had a new little goody two-shoes _friend_ from another dimension. Now, despite how freakish that this woman looked, she did have super strength, super agility, super… well, you name it. And that got me to thinking."

"Is that what the cauldron is for, Lord Negaduck? Are we going to boil this freak alive?" Herb asked, excitement lighting his face.

Negaduck rewarded his minion's interruption by punching him square in the beak, knocking him back and off his feet.

" _Never_ interrupt me. Ahem. Now, my plan is to use this nifty little spell that I, uh, _borrowed_ from Morgana to try and find a universe that would be a Negaverse to this Buffy chick's world."

"What a delightfully wicked little plan, Lord Negaduck," Binkie trilled, clasping her hands together.

"But, uh, I don't get it. What'll that do for us?" Herb asked, scratching his head beneath his leather cap.

"You knob," Negaduck growled, bopping him over the head. "Don't you get it? If we were to combine our forces, we would be utterly _unstoppable_. Worlds would crumble before us!"

"Awesome plan, Lord Negaduck!" Honker said, punching the air.

Negaduck patted him atop the head. The boy would make a wonderful full time addition to his minions once he was a little older. But it did warm his heart to know that such a youthful boy could be so cruel.

"Now, shut your traps while I work this spell," Negaduck ordered, turning and extending his arms up and over the cauldron. "It's very tricky, and we wouldn't want to end up smears on the pavement just because of a wrong word."

This achieved the desired effect of his gang gasping and backing away. He grinned. Becoming a smear on the pavement was of very little concern, in all actuality. However, summoning some horrible monster from some unknown dimension was a very real concern… but honestly, that just sounded like a fun time to the Mallard Menace.

" _A whirlwind of power, a lock, and a door,"_ Negaduck shouted down into the cauldron." _A twist and a pull, and a little bit more. Find for me the one I seek! Find for me the negative of_ _Buffy!_ "

Outside the window, a clap of thunder roared, and lightning flashed. A great gust of wind picked up, swirling and crashing through the windows of The Tower. From behind him, the NegaGang gasped, and Negaduck turned to see them huddled together, trying their best not to be blown off their feet. He huffed. Wusses. He turned back to the cauldron, laughing in the face of the storm that was spontaneously brewing.

The liquid in the cauldron was churning and turning, forming a smooth, acid green whirlpool. It was decreasing in volume, and Negaduck threw his arms out, slowly curling his hands into claws, facing upward at the ceiling.

"Come on, come on!" he shouted down into the cauldron. "Give me my negative Buffy!"

Suddenly, the liquid whirled into a large, thick bubble. And then, just as suddenly as it had formed, the bubble raised itself up above the cauldron, it burst, spewing not liquid, but a bright burst of green light. Negaduck scowled and shielded his eyes, turning his head away.

He opened his eyes slowly, testing them against the dark. He turned back, searching the space around the outside of the cauldron.

"Did it work? Did it work, Lord Negaduck?" Binkie asked, the first to break free of the minions' protected huddle.

Negaduck did not answer, instead moving around the large iron cauldron. Laying on the floor there, her featherless skin covered by a tight, red leather outfit that was rather revealing around its neckline, was a blonde woman, her face hidden by her pale, bare arms. Her hair was gathered atop her head in a rather sharp bun. She lifted her face, confusion—not fear—coloring her green eyes. She stared up at Negaduck, her face the exact image of the Buffy who had fought with Darkwing and set like stone.

"Where the hell am I?" she demanded, again no fear present.

Negaduck only grinned.

#

Back inside Darkwing Tower, Buffy's accidental hosts had made her quite comfortable, seating her in a large, fern green recliner set before an enormous television monitor thing. Sitting at her feet was Gosalyn, who Buffy had discovered was a very inquisitive and spirited nine year old. Launchpad had taken a seat in the tan recliner beside hers, and Darkwing seemed to be fuming over something, pacing back and forth in front of the group.

"So, do you have any other super powers? I mean, can you shoot lasers from your eyes or anything like that? Melt things with your mind?" Gosalyn asked, turned and gazing up at the slayer.

Buffy shook her head. "Nope. Sorry. Just super strength, an instinct tuned to creatures of the night, and I heal really fast. That's about it."

"Well, just how strong are you?" Gosalyn asked.

"Hello?" Darkwing said, stopping in front of the group. "Doesn't anyone care that Negaduck is still on the loose?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dad," the duckling said, waving her hand dismissively in her father's general direction.

"Well… I can break a gun in half. I can also smash bone into powder. So… yeah. Pretty strong, I guess."

"Keen gear! Being a slayer is like, the coolest job ever! Fighting vampires and demons, stabbing them in the heart, cutting off their heads! So wicked cool!"

"Hey," Darkwing whined, "I thought _I_ had the coolest job ever…"

"Yeah, Dad. You do. So, Buffy, how many vampires do you usually kill in a night?"

Buffy looked up, seeing the obviously hurt expression crossing the masked mallard's face. Shaking her head and sighing, she glanced down at Gosalyn.

"You know, Gos, this job isn't as great as it sounds. I mean, I've died doing it. Twice. Yeah, I get super powers, but I've also lost a lot of loved ones to it. Seriously, I would take your dad's job any day over my own."

Buffy flashed a quick grin up at Darkwing, who had rather appreciative smile on his beak. But Gosalyn looked crestfallen, like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar before dinner. Even her pigtails seemed to droop. Buffy bit her lip. It seemed like she just could not win for losing.

"Well, it does have _some_ perks."

Gosalyn grinned, jumping to her feet. "I knew it. Can you—?"

But Darkwing cut in, clearing his throat obviously and loudly.

"Were we not on our way to Morgana's to see if she could get you back to your own world, Buffy?"

Buffy blinked and stood. "You're right. I mean, when I was yanked out of my world, my gang and I were in the middle of a big smackdown-to-be. My sister was there too. The sooner I get back and find out what happened, the better."

Launchpad stood, chuckling. "Gee, I think we might be topping Morg with the weirdest thing ever, showing up with Buffy in tow."

"I'm coming too!" Gosalyn shouted, making a beeline for the Ratcatcher.

"Fine, fine, fine. Can we just go?" Darkwing said, pulling his hat a little lower on his brow.

"Whoo-hoo!" Gosalyn shouted as she slid down the ladder.

Buffy smiled as she watched the little red-haired duckling pile onto the back of the Ratcatcher, fastening her helmet in place. Darkwing moved past the slayer, but she placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"I really appreciate your help, Darkwing. I know that you don't have to do all of this," she said.

Darkwing stopped, his eyes wide in surprise. Finally, he smiled, blinking the look away.

"I'm a hero. Heroes help. I would've thought that you'd get that."

Buffy grinned. "Yeah. I guess I do. It's just been a while since I've needed help as badly as I do now."

Darkwing shrugged. He put his back to the slayer, his cape whirling behind him, when Buffy stopped him again.

"She's a good kid, Gosalyn. I'm sorry that I kind of stole her attention, but she reminds me a lot of Dawn."

The masked mallard turned, a sad look in his eye as he glanced, momentarily, back at his daughter.

"Dawn's a spirited one, is she?" he asked.

Buffy nodded. "She's always eager to help."

Darkwing chuckled. "Yeah. That sounds like Gosalyn. You must really be worried about your sister. I mean… when I ended up in the Negaverse, Gosalyn was—"

"All you could think about? And Launchpad? And I'm probably guessing this Morgana, right?"

Darkwing nodded. Buffy sighed.

"Yeah. I miss my friends and family too. And I'm worried."

"Then let's go see if Morgana can help. And if she can't… we _will_ find a way, Buffy. I promise."

Buffy let Darkwing get a little bit ahead of her, watching as he hopped on the Ratcatcher and turned to make sure Gosalyn was properly buckled and helmeted. She grinned. Of all the worlds she could have ended up in, at least she was in one with good people… or ducks. Whatever.


	5. Big Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one has got a little something different coming. I've a few little stories in this one to tell along with the bigger arc, so please bear with me as I flip-flop points of view. Please enjoy!

 

Dawn cried out, clutching her stomach as she fell forward out of her chair. She gasped, her hair flipped over and curtaining her face as she tried to breathe in carpet.

"Dawnie!" Willow cried, rushing to the girl.

She felt two distinctly different sets of hands on each of her arms as she was gently pried onto her feet and dragged back into her chair. She looked up to see Xander on her left, his single eye fixed on only her and narrowed in concern. Willow, meanwhile, was sighing and turning back to Allie and Cassandra.

"Go get Giles. Now," the witch said, pointing into the next room.

"What the hell… is all this flashing about?" Dawn hissed, trying to squeeze the last bit of pain out of her.

"Take it easy, Dawn," Xander said, placing a hand on one shoulder.

"I'm fine, Xander. But no one's answering me. Why the hell do I keep spewing green light?"

And no one answered her still as Giles, pulling the glasses from his eyes, rushed into the room. The sleeves of his maroon sweater were pushed up to his elbows, and a very thin line of sweat accented his hairline.

"No one else is missing from the House," he said, sighing.

"What do you mean, no one else is missing? What's _happening_?" Dawn growled.

No one had said much since they had left the warehouse to return to the Cleveland Slayer House. The demons that had been so hell bent on making sure that they all die so that they may continue their ritual had just vanished soon after Dawn had exploded some light. Only Kae'uqs had been left, laughing it up on his dais. And before anyone could reach him—and their efforts had been divided, with Giles and Cassandra rushing the demon and Allie and Xander, who had been waiting with reinforcements just in case, rushing to Dawn—Kae'uqs had just vanished. The group had lost no time then, as Dawn had not been able to get to her feet for some time after that, the pain had been so intense, in returning to the Cleveland House. Willow had been called to teleport in soon after that and filled in on what had happened. Now, Dawn just wished that people would do her the same courtesy.

"What's going on?" she repeated as Giles cleaned his glasses, as he was so prone to do when he was frustrated or worried. "And what the hell happened to Buffy? What did that demon do to her?"

Giles and Willow exchanged a glance before Willow knelt down beside Dawn, the skirt to her earthen colored peasant dress fanning around her folded legs.

"You know, I'm with Dawn. What the hell is going on, you guys?" Xander said, glancing over his shoulder at Giles.

"You're still the Key, Dawnie. Glory or no Glory," Willow said slowly.

It was like she was wading into a cold lake, trying to adjust to the temperature before taking the full plunge. Dawn narrowed her eyes at the witch.

"What are you saying?"

"The spells necessary to draw on the Key to tear a hole in dimensions is a closely guarded secret, one that only certain demons, and, uh, demon gods know. But it certainly explains why Kae'uqs is called the Guardian of Keys and the Opener of Doorways."

"Wait. I don't get it. Are you saying that that demon used Dawn's… uh, Keyness? To do what?" Xander asked.

Dawn stood, slowly, her eyes locked on Giles. "Are you saying that that demon used me… to send my sister to another dimension?"

Xander turned, his mouth falling open just a bit as Giles sighed. "It would seem so. I mean, it's times like these that I miss Anya."

Xander's eye narrowed, his voice taking on the defensive. "Why do you say that?"

Giles shrugged. "Vengeance demons use parallel dimensions to grant their wishes, if they are large enough—destiny changing enough. They're some of the few, lower class demons that use that spell. N-not that I am insulting Anya… or her memory."

Xander held up a hand. "I get what you're saying now."

"Well, then what the hell are we waiting for? That demon could've sent Buffy to any number of hellish dimensions! Why aren't we spelling it up and getting her back?" Dawn all but shouted, her breath still somewhat labored.

"Ah, Dawnie, remember what Giles just said. The spell is a closely guarded secret," Willow said, standing and putting a soft hand on the girl's shoulder. "I don't know it."

Dawn fell back into her chair. "But… but, you're _Willow_. You know _every_ spell."

Willow shook her head. "'Fraid not, kiddo."

All were silent for a moment. Finally, Dawn shook her head.

"I can't believe that I did this."

"Oh, Dawn, no," Willow said, looking simply horrified. "The Key and the being that the monks created to house the Key—you—are completely separate. I've been doing a lot of research on the matter, actually. There's no way you can control this spell when it's used. The only way you can do it is if you, yourself, were the one to do it."

"But, Buffy is trapped in some other world. And we don't even know how to get her back."

"It's the biggest secret of the mystical world, yes. But I know some people. I can start there."

Xander scoffed. "Then shouldn't we be working on uncovering this secret like, in the now?"

"I agree," Giles said.

"Let's hit the books," Xander said, and the two men exited the room, both leaving Dawn with words of comfort and, "get some rest."

Willow stood to join them, but Dawn reached out, catching the sleeve of her dress.

"Will… that flash a second ago. No one here was doing a spell," she said.

Willow shrugged. "I know. I have no idea what that was about. But believe me when I say, we're going to figure it out. And we'll get Buffy home."

And with that, she left the room. Dawn leaned back in her chair, clutching her stomach. It was starting to ache again, but it was not the shooting pain that those flashes of her "Keyness," as Xander had referred to it, caused. It was the familiar ache of worry.

Buffy was tough. Dawn knew that. But she was not infallible. And her biggest weakness was her: Dawn. And it could not simply be coincidence that two different demons, or whatever, were doing the spell only hours apart. Because Dawn was sure that someone, _somewhere_ , was doing a spell for that second flash. She squeezed her arms about her stomach. She could feel it.

But if demons were beginning to share the secret of the spell… that could mean trouble. Big time. Not only for Buffy… but for the world. Dawn was a danger to her sister. And that made her stomach hurt worst of all.


	6. Secrets and Schemes

"Talking ducks. Ha," Buffy—or rather, NegaBuffy as Negaduck had already begun to refer to her as—said, lazily walking about the tower.

She kept trailing her hand along the various surfaces around her, her pointed, sharp nails scraping on the tables, torture devices, and glass holding cylinders. She had adjusted quite quickly to the change in scenery, apparently finding it all terribly amusing. The NegaGang was huddled together, scared but trying not to look it, as NegaBuffy began to circle them like a vulture eyeing its next meal. She grinned at them, and Binkie shuddered. She scoffed, laughing quite sardonically at them.

"Talking ducks… that are afraid of little ol' me," she said, running her left hand down the body of her skin-tight red leather outfit.

"Let's talk," Negaduck said from his place where he calmly sat beside the now empty cauldron.

NegaBuffy whirled, not a hair in her jagged updo moving. She ran her hands up her body, stopping to tug on the high, black collar that rose halfway up the back of her head.

"Except for you. You're not afraid of me," she said, slinking closer to Negaduck. With a smile on her crimson lips, she leaned forward, placing a pale hand on either arm of the Mallard Menace's seat, pinning him in it. "Why is that? What makes you so different?"

"I brought you here. And I'm not afraid of anything, especially you," Negaduck growled, steepling his fingers and crossing his legs.

The smile disappeared from NegaBuffy's lips and for a moment, she looked as if Negaduck was going to become lunch. Then, with a wider grin than before, she jumped back and clapped her hands once, interlacing her fingers afterwards.

"What fun," she said, moving toward the cauldron.

She almost danced around it, tapping her finely sharpened, ebony painted nails across its rim.

"Explain why I'm here," she said, her voice becoming demanding.

Negaduck scowled, and he stood.

"Let's get one thing straight from the start, chickie. I take orders from _no one_ , understand? That is including, and not limited to, _you_. You may be strong, but that won't stop a chainsaw from slicing off your little limbs."

And just for good measure, he withdrew his trusty chainsaw from the folds of his cape and revved it. NegaBuffy leaned across the cauldron, apparently unconcerned with the ample cleavage that was showing freely from her leather suit. One arm folded across the cauldron's open mouth, and the other propped up and holding her head, she lifted one blonde brow.

"And how do you know that I'm strong?" she asked.

"Because I've met your do-gooding counterpart."

Darkly green eyes lit up. He had her attention now. He tossed the chainsaw aside—hearing his gang gasp and duck out of its way—and retook his seat.

"I propose a partnership. You and me, versus our goody-goody doppelgangers."

"Interesting," NegaBuffy drawled, standing. "And what's the reward?"

"Utter destruction and the complete conquering of _every_ dimension we cross into," he said.

NegaBuffy grinned. She slowly moved around the cauldron, stopping to lean back on it. Then, suddenly, her face morphed. Instead of being the exact duplicate of the Buffy he had seen, NegaBuffy's facade now had ridges and bumps, like some sort of demon was showing itself. And fangs. Fangs protruded long over her crimson colored lips. Behind him, he heard his gang gasp. But he was fascinated, leaning forward.

"What are you?" he asked, wonder in his devious voice.

"A vampire," she said, morphing her face back. "Here's my counter offer. We go through with your plan, with me—and only me—getting the satisfaction of destroying my doppelganger. And, after all of it, I'll change you into what I am."

"And what do you want in return?"

NegaBuffy leaned in, a certain wicked gleam in her eyes. "I want complete free reign, even from you, in every dimension we conquer."

Negaduck could feel the eyes of his minions on his back, waiting with bated breath for his reply. He grinned a snake's grin.

"Sounds like a damned fun time."

#

When Buffy had been just a kid, eight or nine years old, way before her parents had gotten a divorce, Hank and Joyce Summers had taken her to Disney World. Her favorite ride, in a twist of irony, had been the Haunted Mansion. Instead of being scary, she had always thought that the dancing ghosts had been romantic and beautiful. Not to mention the gothic, dark beauty of the mansion itself. Of course it had creeped her out a little bit, especially the mirrors at the end of the ride that made it look like a ghost was sitting with her, but it was only the little things that had done it. The shadows in the corners of the mansion, the man in the graveyard that would not stop shaking from fear, and the "breakdown" that the ride had experienced when she was on it. And the line to the mansion, with her parents talking about how spooky the ride was, was the scariest part.

Morgana Macawber's mansion reminded Buffy a lot of the Haunted Mansion. The high tower, which had the only window that light could be seen through—and, of course, she could have sworn that she had seen something move in that window—and the dead trees that littered the front yard only added to the reminder. Darkwing had been warning her the entire way to the mansion that Morgana had it enchanted to do all sorts of things, even before you got to ring the doorbell. He warned her, especially, of the freak lightning.

But, of course, none of this happened. In fact, it was no different than walking up to any other house on any other street as they approached Macawber Manor. Darkwing rolled his eyes as he reached for the doorbell.

"Isn't that just typical? Any other time, and the freakin' trees would be trying to eat me or something. But I get my guest all prepared for the weirdness… and nothing," he said, jabbing his thumb into the doorbell.

"I believe you, Darkwing. I do," Buffy said, trying her best to make the vigilante feel better.

"Yeah, yeah," Darkwing said, waving the comment off.

Buffy glanced over at Launchpad and Gosalyn, and the three shrugged. Darkwing shook his head. He rang the doorbell again, and turned back to Buffy.

"Let me do the explaining. I mean, Morg has never seen anything like you before," he said.

"I got it!" Buffy heard a woman's rich voice shout from the other side of the door.

"Gotcha," she said as the black wooden door opened.

Buffy fought hard not to react. If Elvira and Morticia Addams were combined and made into duck-form, Morgana Macawber would be how she imaged them to look. Her high black beehive hair was accented by white, Bride of Frankenstein streaks on either side of it, and no webbed feet were visible beneath the little spread of her red dress on the floor. Her white feathered hands rose to her small beak and gasped, looking over Darkwing's head.

"Come in immediately, and tell me what's going on," she said, grabbing Darkwing by the arm and dragging him over the threshold.

And explain to her they did, slayer bit and all. In fact, Buffy could not remember the last time she had shared her secret with so many people so quickly. Morgana listened with rapt attention, nodding along as Darkwing explained Buffy's sudden appearance in his hideout, her super strength, and what it was that Buffy, well, was. Finally, he turned the explaining over to the slayer as she described the scene that had brought her here.

"A flash of green light, you say?" Morgana asked, standing and snapping her fingers.

Buffy narrowed her eyes as a podium, carrying an open book, _walked_ into the living room. Darkwing, Gosalyn, and Launchpad did not give this happening a second glance.

"Hmm, I'm surprised that _that_ spell was used," the duck witch muttered, flipping through her book.

Darkwing stared at her. "Uh, Morg? You know, you didn't seem too surprised that this strange creature just _showed_ up at your manor."

"Hmm?" Morg said, look up. "Oh, well, you know me, Dark. I live with the strange and unusual every day."

"Uh-huh," Darkwing said, unconvinced.

"It's fine," Buffy muttered to Darkwing, who glanced up at her, confused. With a sigh, he nodded.

"Ah… that's what I was afraid of," Morgana said, her finger holding her place in her spell book.

"What is it?" Gosalyn said, standing on tiptoe as she tried, in vain, to read over the witch's shoulder.

"I know what spell it is that you need to return home, Miss Summers," Morgana said, removing her hand to clasp it with the other.

"You don't sound too excited about that, Morgana," Launchpad said with Darkwing nodding along.

"Well, you see, I know _of_ it. I don't know it."

"What?" Buffy asked.

Morgana shrugged, moving around her enchanted podium to take a seat on her blood red couch. Sighing, she shook her head, which shook loose a couple of bats that looked annoyed at being awoken from a nap.

"It's a closely guarded secret, the spell that causes inter-dimensional travel. Only certain beings know it, and I'm afraid that witches don't make that list."

"Well, is there any way to learn the secret, honeybunch?" Darkwing asked, taking a seat beside her.

Buffy glanced between the two for a moment, caught off guard by the pet name. A hero who, with very few exceptions, was a normal person in a relationship with a decidedly not normal person. Seemed like Darkwing and she had a lot more in common than they might have previously thought.

Morgana sighed, rubbing her temples. "All of the beings who have learned it without being privy to it by their very nature have had to either steal it or fight for it. And believe me when I say, although neither course is easy, fighting for it is definitely the safer route to take."

Buffy perked up. If there was one thing she could do, it was fight.

"How do you fight for it? Who do you fight for it? Because, gotta tell you, that's not a problem for me," she asked, but Morgana only shrugged again.

"That, too, is private knowledge."

"So… it's hopeless?" Gosalyn said, casting an anxious glance up at Buffy.

"Well, maybe not. I have some friends who might know something. It's worth a shot. It takes some doing to contact them. It might be a little while before I have any more information."

Buffy nodded as Darkwing stood, tugging on his hat once more.

"Keep us posted, Morg. Until then," Darkwing turned to Buffy, "you are more than welcome to stay with us."

"Much appreciated. Oh, and Morgana, if you can only find out who I have to beat to get the info, well… that works too."

She flashed a confident smile at Morgana who grinned back and nodded.

"I'll get to work on it immediately."

"And we'll leave you to it. To Darkwing Tower!" Darkwing said, dramatically pointing toward the front door.

Gosalyn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Dad, we figured."

Darkwing looked crestfallen, deflated even, as the group exited Macawber Manor for the Ratcatcher.

#

It was quiet back at Darkwing Tower, with Buffy not quite sure what to do with herself and her hosts not quite sure what to do with her either. Gosalyn seemed an unending fount of questions about being a slayer, but even she was beginning to slow.

"It's almost time for your bedtime," Darkwing reminded gently, eyeing his watch.

"Dad," Gosalyn whined, but Darkwing stood firm.

"You've got thirty more minutes, and then you can take Buffy with you back to the house."

Buffy grinned. "Going to trust me with your secret identity?"

Darkwing shrugged. "I figure that you don't just tell everyone in your world that you're a vampire slayer… so you've already trusted me with yours."

The Chosen One nodded. "Very true."

The sharp crackling of static suddenly erupted from the police radio atop the platform. Darkwing immediately ran to the ladder and scaled it quickly.

"It could be Negaduck again," he said as soon as Buffy and Gosalyn had joined him.

" _Electrical lines are going haywire over 7_ _th_ _and Cardinal Avenues. Citizens are in danger. Source of trouble is unknown. Problem is moving south onto 8_ _th_ _street. Be advised._ "

"Sounds more like a problem for the power company. Why are the police so concerned over, what sounds like, downed electrical lines?" Buffy asked.

But Darkwing and Gosalyn were already exchanging meaningful glances.

"Megavolt," the father and daughter said at once.

"Another villain? Are guys on a Hellmouth or something?" Buffy asked.

"What? What's a Hellmouth?" Gosalyn asked.

The slayer sighed. "Nothing. Megavolt is just as dangerous as Negaduck, I suppose?"

"You would suppose correctly," Darkwing said, sliding down the ladder. As soon as his feet touched the floor, he glanced back up, adding, "Will you stay here with Gosalyn, Buffy? I can handle this one by myself."

"No problem. But I'm here if you need me."

"Yeah. Right."

"But, Dad!" Gosalyn said, sliding down after her father.

She ran over to him as he hopped into the driver's seat of the Ratcatcher, Launchpad hopping, once again, into the sidecar.

"Gosalyn, it's a school night and nearly your bedtime, and, oh yeah, crime fighting is too dangerous for you. Stay here with Buffy, and, Buffy, when it hits eight, tell her to take the both of you back to the house!"

"All right," Buffy called back as Darkwing revved his cycle, rearing it up and zooming out of the tower.

Gosalyn scoffed, kicking at the ground as Buffy climbed down the ladder to join her. The little duckling glanced up at the slayer and shook her head, annoyance clear all over her face.

"He never lets me help. He always treats me like a little baby," she complained, crossing her arms.

"I'm sure that he's just worried about your safety," Buffy said, trying her best to comfort her.

But Gosalyn was already walking away, going to collapse into another recliner. She sunk low into it, putting on her best pouting face as Buffy moved to stand over her. The slayer shrugged.

"I used to do the same thing with Dawn, my sister. I always left her behind, to keep her out of danger."

Gosalyn stared up at her, eyes wide. "Used to?"

Buffy bit her lip. This was dangerous territory, and that had been poor wording. Shrugging again, she moved to sit, cross legged, in front of the recliner.

"Well, Dawn's a lot older than you," she muttered.

"But you stopped treating her like a baby? When? Why?"

"I still treat her like a baby, sometimes."

"I can deal with sometimes. Dad does it all the time!"

Buffy looked away from the eager little duckling. The last time she had seen her sister… she had been in pain, some green light coming from her. And she had been surrounded by demons. As far as protective big sister, she had been failing miserably as of recently. After all, Dawn had been back in with the whole slayer, fighter-of-evil thing long before even Buffy.

The slayer looked back to see Gosalyn staring sadly at her.

"I'm sorry," she said, sliding off of the chair. "All this talk of home… you must miss it."

Buffy grinned. "I'm a worrier. Especially when it comes to Dawn. I promised our mother that I'd take care of her. I just don't feel like I've been doing that a lot lately."

"Well, you can't help that you were sent into another dimension."

Buffy laughed. "That's not exactly what I meant, but you do have a point there."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Well, a few years ago, I decided that I wanted to show her the world. So I began to teach her how to fight."

"Wow, really?"

"Uh-oh," Buffy said, standing.

Gosalyn leapt to her feet. "What do you mean, 'uh-oh'?"

"I mean, 'uh-oh, I know that look.' Don't ask me what you're about to ask me."

"But why not?" Gosalyn asked, hopping up and down around Buffy as the slayer turned and began to walk away.

She had the strongest urge to put her fingers in her ears and begin to sing, "La la la," but she did not. Gosalyn was still dancing around her, a hopeful look in her bright eyes.

"But, if you taught me how to fight, then I could help Dad out!" she said.

"It's not that simple, Gosalyn. I mean, your Dad probably wouldn't like the idea of me teaching you how to fight, and that wouldn't be a very nice way to repay him for trying to help me get back to my world."

"But you got over not wanting your sister to fight and taught her! He could do the same!"

"That was different, Gos!"

"How so?"

Buffy stopped, flailing her arms helplessly.

"It… it just is! I mean, I came to the conclusion that I couldn't always be there to hold her hand and protect her. It was better for her to be able to protect herself."

"Well, doesn't that apply to me? I mean, Dad can't always be there for me either. Wouldn't it be better if I could defend myself too?"

Buffy stopped and rubbed her eyes. She missed Giles. Was this how her old Watcher had felt every time she had done this with him? Probably.

"But that's not my decision to make. It's your dad's."

"We don't have to tell him. We could keep it a secret."

"But—"

"What if I was kidnapped or something? I've been before. Every time, I have to wait for Dad to rescue me, and a couple of times, it was a pretty close call. I bet Dawn got kidnapped a lot too. But if I could fight and defend myself… I'd be safer."

The kid had a point. Buffy knew it. After all, she was reaching the same conclusions that Buffy had reached about Dawn. It was an undeniable truth. Just by virtue of being Darkwing's daughter, Gosalyn was already in a lifetime's worth of trouble. Just like Dawn, just by being the slayer's sister.

"You couldn't just run off after your Dad, trying to fight every villain that he does. You'd have to _promise_ me that you'd only fight when you _absolutely_ had to… like being kidnapped. And no bending the rules to break the promise, Gosalyn. If I trained you to fight, and then you got hurt, because of me, neither your father or myself would be able to forgive me. You have to _promise_."

Gosalyn crossed her heart, making the "scout's honor" sign, one of her hands held behind her back.

"Both hands. Let me see them when you say it."

Gosalyn held up her other hand, palm open, as she sighed and said, "I promise."

Buffy sighed, muttering, "I can't believe that I'm doing this. But all right. I'll train you to fight."

"Yahoo!" Gosalyn said, leaping and punching the air.

"But, but! It has to be our secret!"

"Oh, it will be! I promise! When do we start?"

Buffy glanced over her shoulder, finding a clock on the wall.

"Tomorrow. Right now, it's time to take you home."

And, maybe for the first time in her life, Gosalyn did not argue her bedtime.


	7. Send in the Clones

"I have you now, you scurrilous scoundrel!" Darkwing shouted, diving through the wooden, swinging door, Launchpad following right behind.

"Ha! You'll never take me alive, Dipwing!" Megavolt screeched back, a maniacal, high pitch laugh spilling forth from his insane lips.

Megavolt had his electric-bolt shooting gun pulled, and had it aimed directly at the Daring Duck of Mystery. Darkwing paused, gas gun drawn, with Launchpad skidding to a halt beside him. The hero and his sidekick had chased the enthusiastically electric felon into a corner, literally, on the fourth floor of the St. Canard Power Company. Three floors below, on the ground, stood an overlarge battery. It seemed that Megavolt had been trying to suck all of the electricity out of the power company's resistors and funnel it into his battery. What his plan was after that, Darkwing was not sure… but he sure as heck was not going to let Megavolt continue it.

"Suck gas, evil-doer!" Darkwing shouted, squeezing the trigger on his gun.

"Eat volts," Megavolt countered, firing his own weapon.

The two projectiles—one a yellow encased gas pellet and the other a bolt of blue electricity—met in midair, causing the gas to pop early. Darkwing covered his beak with his cape, hearing his partner cough against the gas as it covered the room.

"I'll stop you yet, villain!" Darkwing yelled into the obscuring gas.

"Not likely, hero," Megavolt yelled.

It sounded as if the brag had come from Darkwing's right, so the hero struck out, hitting nothing but air. A scuffling sound drew the Duck Knight's attention next as he turned to his left, striking out with his left foot. He connected with something solid that time as an "oof!" followed. The gas was beginning to lift now, and Darkwing could see Megavolt, crumpled, laying up against the nearest wall. The Mighty Masked Mallard grinned.

"Your plan's foiled, Megavolt. And it looks like your power bill's due."

Megavolt groaned, slowly pushing himself to his feet. He lifted his gun to fire, only to have it knocked out of his grasp by Launchpad. With a growl, he turned to the pilot and hissed, "You'll pay for that!"

Launchpad opened his beak to reply but was cut off by a sudden rumbling. Megavolt's brow narrowed as he looked at the wall across the room.

"What's that?" he asked as the three occupants in the room began to shake, along with the walls, the ceiling, and the floor.

Cracking and crunching, loud enough to cause them to cover their ears, erupted, and a set of cracks, reminiscent of the shape of a square, formed on the wall. Dust flew as, just as quickly as the cracks appeared, the wall was pulled free. The two heroes and the villain lost their collective balance and fell to the floor. Once again, the view in the room was obscured, leaving Megavolt, Darkwing, and Launchpad coughing. When the debris finally settled, all eyes were on the hole in the wall as Negaduck, stepping off the side of a very large machine, chainsaw revving in hand, grinned down at the heroes.

"Hi, there, kids. Mind if we play?" he asked, brandishing his chainsaw in the air.

Darkwing coughed, getting back to his feet. "Seeing double, Negs? I only count you."

"Oh," Negaduck said, powering down his weapon and leaning on it. "How rude of me. Allow me to introduce my new friend. For variety's sake, let's call her… NegaBuffy!"

All eyes were drawn back to the hole, and Negaduck's super monster truck, as he waved his hand in that direction. Stepping off the machine now, crimson lips grinning, was a woman who was the exact image of Buffy. And yet… there was something distinctly different. Despite the difference in attire and appearance—as this Buffy was wearing knee high black leather boots with a red leather outfit that cut into a low V-shape with a high black collar, her blonde hair pulled up into a messy, jagged bun, and her skin as pale as paraffin—there was also the difference in her mere presence. It was… darker, somehow. Simply looking at this woman—NegaBuffy, Negaduck had called her—made Darkwing shudder. Launchpad, however, was the first to regain his voice.

"Buffy? What're you doin' with Negaduck?" he said.

Negaduck and NegaBuffy cackled.

"Your sidekick's a little slow on the uptake, isn't he? No, you see, I saw that you had a strong new friend—Buffy, right?—and I decided that I wanted one for myself. This is Buffy's negative counterpart."

Darkwing shook his head. "Three villains are no harder to defeat than one."

"Ooh. Big talk. NegaBuffy, why don't you show Darkwing what makes you _particularly_ special?"

"With pleasure," she said, grinning even wider.

But as she did, her face changed. It was bumpier, with ridges protruding at the forehead and cheekbones. And a nice set of sharp fangs peeking out over her bottom lip. Darkwing shook his head and sighed.

"Okay. Yeah. This could be a problem."

 

#

It was amazing. Cable in this dimension was no more entertaining than cable in Buffy's own.

The slayer, as soon as the clock in Darkwing Tower had chimed eight, had followed the vigilante's instructions to move his daughter back to their house. Now, sitting on the blue couch in the living room, Buffy flicked listlessly through the channels. And beside her, Gosalyn, of whom Buffy thought it would not hurt to let stay up a little later, sat, snacking on a tray of chocolate chip cookies. She held the tray up, and Buffy snagged one, eating it in two bites.

"You know, if your dad comes home and finds out that I've let you stay up…" Buffy said, letting the sentence trail.

Gosalyn shook her head, crumbs of cookie falling from her beak. "It's all right. I'll dart up the stairs as soon as we see the chairs whirl."

She jabbed a thumb in the direction of the two blue recliners. Buffy groaned. The trip from the tower to the house had not been her favorite. Spinning rides had never been her forte. Her stomach was still marching in protest, and the cookies had not calmed it.

"Yeah, you could've warned me about those."

"Sorry. I'm just so used to them, I guess."

Buffy shrugged and continued her flipping through the television channels. It was truly unbelievable the amount of what was _not_ on. She was gaining speed in hitting the "channel up" button that her eyes beginning to glaze over. With a gasp, Gosalyn suddenly sat bolt upright, resting a hand on Buffy's arm.

"Go back a channel!" she yelled, pointing at the TV set.

Buffy's eyes narrowed as she did what was requested. It was a news channel and a… dog, by the looks of it, in a trench coat with a blond twirl of hair was reporting live in front of a building that had, frankly, seen better days.

"This is Tom Lockjaw, reporting to you live from the scene unfolding here at the St. Canard Power Company," he said, his right hand covering his right ear.

"Why does your power company have a huge hole in the side of the building, Gos?" Buffy asked.

"Look, Buffy! Look at what's behind him!"

Buffy leaned forward on the couch, focusing in on what Gosalyn pointed to. A monster truck, colored in red, yellow, and black was parked just outside the gaping hole in the building. It was at least double the size of the one she had originally seen Negaduck in. She shook her head.

"Who lets him buy this stuff?" she muttered.

"Ssh! Listen!" Gosalyn now ordered.

"It appears there are at least five people inside the Power Company. Four have been identified as Darkwing Duck, his sidekick, the villain Megavolt, and the villain Negaduck. As for the fifth. Well, folks… let's see if we can get a close-up of this strange, strange creature."

At that, the camera moved quickly off of Lockjaw, moving in on the hole in the building. It took a couple of tries, but, eventually, it focused in on the figure standing with Negaduck. Gosalyn gasped.

"It's you, Buffy!"

Buffy's jaw dropped, and as the figure—who was, undeniably, her twin in appearance—turned, one thing was instantly clear.

"What's wrong with her face?" Gosalyn asked.

"Vampire," Buffy said, standing.

The camera changed its focus soon after that as Negaduck, cackling, revved up his chainsaw and began to cut down random things within the building. A blur in purple—Darkwing, presumably—was now engaging him in a fight. Buffy shook her head.

"What? Is that chainsaw the only date Negaduck can get on a Saturday night or something?"

She could feel Gosalyn's eyes on her as she laughed, shrugging.

"You're nine," Buffy added. "Let's not tell your dad that I said that, okay?"

The slayer ran to the recliner, throwing herself into the seat. She sat there for a moment, as if waiting for something to happen. After a few seconds, she began to wiggle, rocking the chair. Finally, she sighed, looking up at Gosalyn.

"Your dad needs my help. How in the heck do you work these things?"

"I'm coming too!"

"No, Gos. You have to stay here. Now tell me how to work these."

"But, you said that you wouldn't treat me like a baby!"

"After we have you trained. We haven't even started. Remember your promise? We'll start when we fix this, seriously. But I have to go. Now."

Gosalyn sighed. "Fine. Hit the statue's head."

Buffy blinked, looking at the small table between the two chairs. She smiled as she put her hand over the head of the golden mouse, who was dressed remarkably like Sherlock Holmes.

"You stay here, all right? I'll have your dad back in a jiffy."

And with a groan, she closed her eyes and smacked the mouse's head, sending the chairs into a spin.

She hated spinning.


	8. Something in Common

Darkwing flew through the air, coming to a most painful stop against the far wall of the room. He slid down it just as Launchpad joined him, kneeling down over the Mighty Masked Mallard.

"DW! DW, can you hear me?" he asked, shaking Darkwing's shoulders.

"Grr, ow, ouch," Darkwing mumbled, slumping over.

From behind the two do-gooders, NegaBuffy laughed. She tossed her head, her boots crunching over debris as she moved ever closer.

"This is child's play. I wish to meet my own doppelganger, as was promised," she said, turning at the waist to gaze back at Negaduck. "You told me she was strong. I wish to see just how strong. This duck is nothing but a distraction."

Darkwing shook his head, pulling himself to his feet and withdrawing his gas gun. He took quick aim and fired, the gas pellet hitting NegaBuffy square in the forehead as she turned back to him. She blinked, staring down at the gas that was now expelling from it.

"Nice try, Darkwing," she laughed. "But, you see, vampires don't breathe. Your gas gun's useless."

Darkwing nodded. "Maybe. But don't count me out yet."

With a karate yell, he sprang forward, doing a flip before landing back on his feet, ready to fight, right behind NegaBuffy. She arched a pale brow.

"You're very agile. Let's see if I can get some distance when I toss you this time."

From behind Darkwing, Megavolt let out an impressed, "ooh." Darkwing dared glance behind him just in time to see the charged chump fall to his knees and grasp at Negaduck's cape.

"Oh, you got to let me in on this plan! You got to! Please, please, please!" he begged.

Darkwing turned back to NegaBuffy just in time to dodge her next hit. He flipped over, landing once more behind her.

"Get off me, Mega-dope. Do I look like I need you around?" Negaduck growled.

"I'll dispose of him for you, if you'd like, after I'm done with Darkwing," NegaBuffy said, a smile playing about her lips.

"Darkwing is _mine_ , NegaBuffy. We had a deal," Negaduck protested.

"Yes. Provided that my counterpart shows up."

"B-but I can help! Watch!" Megavolt interrupted, getting back to his feet.

He took aim with his index finger and fired a bolt of blue electricity. It went right past NegaBuffy and Darkwing, who were both able to easily side step it, and hit Launchpad. The sidekick cried out and fell to the ground, the tiniest little plume of smoke rising off of his body. NegaBuffy grinned.

"Oooh. Negaduck, you didn't mention that your friend had such powers. He could be fun to keep around after all."

"Launchpad!" Darkwing yelled, running to his friend.

"We don't need him," Negaduck said, stomping toward NegaBuffy as Megavolt grinned triumphantly. "Trust me. He's just a useless knob."

"He stays, Negaduck. Right now, his amusing little power is the only thing that's keeping me from killing everyone in sight. And I do mean, _everyone_ ," NegaBuffy said, glaring down upon her partner in crime.

Negaduck growled, revving his chainsaw. "I'd like to see you try it, chickie."

"Excuse me," a bright voice called from the hole in the wall.

All eyes turned to find Buffy standing there, her arms crossed.

"If the lovers are done having their little spat, I think I'll have a few words with NegaMe."

"Well, well, well. Look at this. This is going to be fun, don't think?" NegaBuffy said, stalking slowly towards her counterpart.

Buffy shook her head. "Hope you won't be too disappointed when I kick your ass. You're giving me a bad name here."

Buffy jerked a thumb out in the direction of the camera crew parked across the road from the Power Company. NegaBuffy laughed.

"Oh, well I'm terribly sorry. You see, when I'm through with you, the only thing this world will remember you as is a bloody smear."

"Bring it, bitch," Buffy said.

The two Buffys had taken the attention of the entire room, hero and villain alike. They moved into the center of the small space not covered by debris, slowly circling each other.

"This is going to be epic," NegaBuffy grinned. "Oh, what I have planned for little ol' you."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Answer me this. How did Negaduck get a hold of a negative version of me? A vampire version, at that?"

"Oh, you know about that, do you?" NegaBuffy grinned, morphing her face into its more demonic appearance. "Let's just say that that's for me to know… and you to die trying to find out."

"Please tell me that my banter is better than that."

"You know, Negaduck knows the spell to hop from dimension to dimension. I think that, after I'm done with you here, I'll go to your universe and kill all your little friends there. Of course, that'll be after I kill all the new friends you've made here."

"Not going to happen."

"Try and stop me."

Buffy grimaced. "With pleasure."

NegaBuffy rushed at her, fangs bared. Buffy did not move, instead ducking low and delivering a strong punch to the vampire's mid-region. NegaBuffy fell back, looking up at her double.

"A slayer?" she said, shocked.

Buffy shrugged. "Impressed by that? You should see me when I cheerlead."

The two flew at each other then like birds of prey battling over the right to their next meal. The quick movements of their blows woke their onlookers, reminding them that they were not all friends there. Megavolt shot a bolt of electricity at Darkwing, who leapt easily out of the way. He landed within Negaduck's reach, and had to make a quick duck underneath his devious double's chainsaw. Megavolt shot another bolt, and again Darkwing leapt out of the way, the bolt this time hitting NegaBuffy in the back. She cried out and growled, turning. Megavolt gulped and squeaked a small apology. She did not have long to dwell on the near miss as Buffy stepped forward, throwing a mean right hook in her doppelganger's direction.

NegaBuffy caught her arm, while Buffy threw up her left to hit. NegaBuffy ducked under the hit, only to have the toe of Buffy's shoe come into direct contact with her stomach. Had she been human, the wind would have been knocked out of her. Instead, she only moaned low, backing out of the hit before straightening herself.

"A sucker punch, Slayer? I'm not impressed," she muttered.

In the background, Launchpad was coming to, and dodging Megavolt's attempts to knock him unconscious once more. Darkwing was occupied engaging Negaduck in hand to hand combat, both holding their own quite well.

"I do believe that it was a sucker kick. If you can't tell the difference, I'd be happy to show you," Buffy snipped, flipping through the air, landing just right to throw another right hook. NegaBuffy ducked her once more.

The two were fighting each other in circles, the flash of camera lights leaking in through the massive hole in the wall—and around Negaduck's huge monster truck. Kick after kick, punch after punch, and only Buffy showed any signs of tiring. NegaBuffy grinned, chuckling at her counterpart's increasingly sloppy attempts to hit her.

"Perks to being a vampire. Rest isn't really required," she said, backing away from another roundhouse.

Buffy did not even try to respond, instead focusing her strength into her limbs—which were beginning to feel quite heavy. She was pushing her negative counterpart back, back against the wall, in hopes of finding a stray piece of wood in which to finish her off with. As a rule, and from sheer experience, Buffy tried her best not to travel without a stake. But this inter-dimensional trip of hers had caught her completely off guard. Besides her hands and feet, she was weaponless. Which was useless, when it came to fighting the undead.

Behind them, doing their own brand of circling about, was Negaduck and Darkwing, both huffing and puffing from their own fight.

"Had enough, Negsy?" Darkwing challenged, his voice breathy.

"Not quite, Dipwing," Negaduck retorted, sounding very much the same.

This had to end before the worst happened. Buffy heaved a deep breath, crying out as she landed a kick square in the chest of her double. Her vampire self flew back, bouncing against the wall. She gasped, pressing her pale flesh against it, her eyes practically glowing red as she glared at the slayer.

"You're tiring, Buffy. You may have me cornered, but now what? I don't see a stake."

Buffy pursed her lips. She hated it when the bad guys were right. Behind her, Darkwing and Negaduck's fight raged on, while she could also hear Launchpad deftly dodging Megavolt's attempts to hit him. As for her own fight, she was at a stalemate. Without a stake, there was no way to truly end it… unless she lost, which was not an option.

But then, a new sound drew her attention. A whistling through the air that sounded all too familiar. At the last second, she ducked, looking up to see a wooden stake that had the same, blocky quality that everything else in this world had, zoom over her head, narrowing missing NegaBuffy's head by inches. The vampire's green eyes widened, staring at the wooden object. All fighting ceased as the group, collectively, turned to see the source of the stake.

A woman—or woman-duck, more correctly—stood silhouetted by the camera's accompanying lights. She was dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans, sneakers, a red t-shirt and black leather jacket. Her short beak was smiling and the breeze of the news team's newly arrived helicopter caught her chin-length, super curly black hair and tousled it about her face.

"No," NegaBuffy hissed. "No!"

"I don't care what dimension you come from, a vampire is a vampire. And for you, this fight is over," the new arrival said, her voice sleek, feminine, and confident.

"This isn't quite as fun as it was," NegaBuffy growled. "And it's not over, Buffy. See you later, slayer."

With that, NegaBuffy ducked and weaved, grabbing Megavolt and Negaduck as she went, until, finally, she had leapt from the power company. The monster truck's engine revved and it turned, tearing its way down the street and out of sight.

"We should go," the new duck said, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Buffy called as Launchpad and Darkwing moved to stand with her. "Who are you?"

The duck turned, smiling. "I'm a slayer, like I'm guessing you are. I'm Mindy, the vampire slayer."

#

"Arggh!" NegaBuffy howled, grabbing the nearest table and hurling it across the room.

The group, which now consisted of Negaduck, NegaBuffy, and Megavolt, had made the retreat to Negaduck's hideout in Darkwing's world—an old abandoned sawmill on the outskirts of the city. Negaduck liked all the sharp blades that decorated the walls and machines. NegaBuffy howled again, hurling a half sawed tree trunk this time. Megavolt and Negaduck ducked as it zoomed by over their heads.

"What's wrong with her?" Megavolt whispered, only to get another object lobbed at him.

"That's what I want to know," Negaduck said, not bothering to lower his voice.

Suddenly, NegaBuffy turned, rushing towards the Mallard Menace. She grabbed the lapels of his outfit, lifting him off his feet. She shook him, snarling in his face.

"You didn't tell me! Was that your plan? To humiliate me? _Me_?" she growled.

"What are you _talking_ about?" Negaduck said, squirming against her hold.

She hissed, hurling him from her into Megavolt. The two villains untangled themselves, but only Negaduck returned to his feet.

"Slayers, Negaduck! Slayers! Bloody, nosey, _living_ slayers!" she screamed at him.

"You aren't making yourself any clearer. Maybe if you'd let me in on the problem, I could help you solve it. Let me tell you, I'm not too thrilled to have two super powered chicks against me."

"They aren't your average, super powered _chicks_. And you _didn't_ tell me! You didn't tell me that they still existed in your dimension!"

"Darkwing's dimension. And I still don't know what you're talking about. I told you that the other version of you was strong."

NegaBuffy scoffed, putting her back to the villain. She seemed to be regaining her composure. She was heaving and growling, like a feral animal. Finally, she turned.

"You really don't get it, do you? You don't know?" she asked.

Negaduck growled, grinding his teeth. "Apparently not. Care to fill me in?"

She put her back to him again, chuckling a bit incoherently.

"Still alive. Still here. Still strong," she muttered, wringing her hands together.

Negaduck arched a brow. He glanced behind him to Megavolt, who had just returned to his feet. His fellow villain shrugged, and Negaduck returned his attention to NegaBuffy, who seemed to be calming.

"This new duck… she's a vampire slayer. You didn't tell me that they existed in this world. They're strong. The only ones with a real chance of killing vampires. One born to each generation, until, like cockroaches, they figure out how to multiply. That's what happened in my world. But we won. We beat them. Squashed them like the bugs that they were. Drained 'em dry. Nothing, _nothing_ , tastes better than slayer blood. And now, two slayers to deal with. Two."

She was walking in a small circle, her eyes trained on the ceiling. Suddenly, she stopped wringing her hands together instead running them down the sides of her body.

"It's been _forever_ since I've tasted slayer blood," she murmured.

"So, is there just one of them, or can we expect more of these super powered bimbos to show up?" Negaduck asked.

NegaBuffy stopped, turning to him as if she had forgotten that he was there.

"I don't think so. I think that my counterpart and this new one are the only two we have to worry about. But let's not play it safe."

"What do you mean?" Megavolt put in, his voice coming out high pitched.

"What I mean," NegaBuffy said, sashaying her way toward Negaduck, "is that if you want me to keep up my end of the bargain… then we have to do a little, um, cleaning house first. I'll not go up against multiple slayers… not again."

She paused, looking away in such a way that it was like she was looking into a distant past. Negaduck crossed his arms.

"Does it involve mass murder?" he asked.

NegaBuffy grinned. "Doesn't all fun?"

He laughed. "Now you're speaking my language. So what do we do?"

* * *

End Notes: Oddly, writing for the bad guys is always easier for me. I wonder if I should be worried about that? Anyhow, what did you guys think about this one? Things are not looking that good, but then again, there is the mysterious Mindy, the vampire slayer. Will she help… or hinder? Art below by twisted_slinky, colored digitally by moi


	9. Open Phone Line and Information Exchange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have this view for NegaBuffy. Does everyone remember how vampire Willow and Dark Willow was sort of nutso? Well, in my head, NegaBuffy is not exactly full out crazy, but she does have a tipping point. You saw it last chapter. Betrayal… doesn't sit well with her, in case you didn't notice. Well, on with the show.

It was not an easy task to sneak by a witch whose powers were nearly on level with that of a goddess. But Dawn was managing. It helped that Willow was a bit preoccupied with the task of trying to get Buffy back.

Willow's room was pristine, bed made, and done up in jewel tones, with a rich, plum-colored canopy covering her bed with shelves upon shelves of spellbooks, and she had only been occupying the Cleveland House for a few hours. Dawn had an inkling that magic had played a major role in decorating the room. Dawn closed the door behind her, as softly as possible, and slipped inside. Currently, Willow was in the main room with Giles, Xander, and the slayers of the House, hashing out orders and working on spells. But that did not mean anything, time wise. Willow could randomly poof into her room at a moment's notice to retrieve a book, or an herb. She had to be quick.

Dawn crossed the room in four strides, stopping to finger through the spines of the dusty tomes that sat upon the nearest darkly-stained oaken shelf. She sniffed, instantly wishing that she had not done so. The room already smelled of dust and musky herbs, and she had to try hard not to sneeze. She shook her head, and began to avoid breathing through her nose, pulling out book after book just far enough to catch a glimpse of its cover before shoving it back into place.

Of course, she did not know the _exact_ book she was looking for. She had tried doing research online for the spell that she wanted, but had come up with zilch. It was unheard of, well, because _she_ was unheard of. Several websites had information on an inter-dimensional Key, but the last time they had been updated had been when the monks that had made her fleshy casing for her Keyness were still alive. After all, they had been trying to hide the Key from Glory… advertising information on the web, especially information involving the fact that it was hidden inside a human form, would not have been the smartest of ideas.

Finally, she decided that it was an "all or none" situation. She picked three books—one with a red leather cover with thick black letters on its cover, one with a black leather cover that had no writing on its outer cover whatsoever, and one that seemed to be covered by plain parchment… but the lettering looked like blood. Dawn did not want to think about it. Working quicker than ever, she sat the books on the floor, shoving the dummies she had made to replace them into the empty spaces. Thank God for the internet. A simple cereal box whose side was made to look like the spine of a book, but hollow inside to hide, well, whatever: jewelry, notes, candy bars to cheat on a diet. Willow would not even notice the books were missing…

…unless she needed them. But Dawn put that thought out of mind, scooping the three heavy tomes up into her arms. She rushed to the door, stopping only long enough to check and see if the coast was clear. It was. She made a short dash up the hall, and all but dove into her own room at the Cleveland House. She groaned, tossing the books onto her bed, and flicked on the light.

It was going to be long, hard research simply because she had no starting point. Like she had already found out, no one knew that the Key was anything but pure energy… so there was a real possibility that a spell to separate the Key from its host—while leaving its host intact—did not exist. But she had to try.

So the spell to bring her sister back was a well guarded secret? Only certain demons knew it? Then how was it that Buffy just ever so happened to cross the path of every demon that Willow and Giles had said knew the spell? Dawn was a liability, and no one was acknowledging it. She was a danger to her sister, to any slayer she was with. But no, nobody was talking about it.

"It's okay, Dawn. It's not your fault, Dawn," Dawn mimicked, sitting on her bed and grabbing the red leather book.

She was not going to take any chances. She knew that destroying the Key was too risky, for everyone—never mind what it might do to her. And she knew that they needed it to bring her sister home. But if she wanted to stay with Buffy and the slayers—and she knew that Buffy would not have it any other way, adult or not—then she had to get rid of it, for their sake. So she wanted it out of her, hidden someplace only a select few would know. Maybe she could even give it to another order of monks. But one thing was certain.

No one was safe around her until the Key was gone.

#

Something felt… out of place. Wrong. But Willow could not put a finger on it. With a dismissive sigh, she turned back around, sticking only her head out of her bedroom door.

"Okay, I need to be left completely alone for this. This spell I'm about to do requires the utmost concentration. So unless someone's dying and cannot be fixed by basic medical knowledge, don't knock."

"Gotcha, Will," Xander said. But before the witch could close her door entirely, he put out a hand, his single eye narrowed in confusion. "Um… what spell, exactly, are you doing now? I mean, we're not exactly any further along in Operation: Return Buffy."

Willow smiled. "I just have to check some things. And who knows? I might get some answers out of this. Now, remember. No talky to Willow, okay?"

"Right. Do I need to guard the door from the other slayers and Giles? You know how, um, persistent Giles can be when he wants to share some huge breakthrough in any given problem."

"Just stress the point. I mean, I don't think that it'll come down to you needing to tackle Giles… which, by the way, would fall under the category of "concentration breakers." I think, though, if you spread the word, and make it sound life threatening, people ought to listen. Now, I'm off."

Willow shut the door, and with it, shut out the rest of the world. She put that nagging feeling of "someone has been in my room" behind her, and took a seat—cross legged—in the center of her carpeted floor. She folded her arms in her lap, closed her eyes, and began to chant in Latin. It was the same phrase, over and over, and she was careful to keep the intoning even and strong.

" _Through the walls, I implore thee, speak._ _Through the walls, I implore thee, speak._ "

Over and over she chanted the sentence, until finally she could feel the world around her change. Even through her eyelids, she could feel her room grow dark, mystical energies thickly flowing all around her. She opened her eyes and smiled to see that her entire room was black. The shapes of the objects that had been in her room—her bookshelves, her bed, her chair—were still there, but they, too, were black. It was like the entire room was made of the blackest ebony and caught in that moment in time between when the sun has fully set and before the stars come out.

Willow pulled herself to her feet and walked, very deliberately, to her room's far wall… or, where the room's far wall would have been. Instead, now, it seemed as if the wall was made of the thickest pane of glass Willow had ever seen in her life. She placed a hand to it, and closing her eyes once more, she willed herself to push through. It did nothing, save to make her palm ache. She reopened her eyes and looked into the room that was beyond the glass. The person occupying the other room shook her head.

"You know that it doesn't work that way, Willow. It takes a lot more power than either of us has at the moment to break through the dimensions," she said, walking to her side of the glass.

Willow grinned as she came into full view, the blackness no longer shadowing her form.

"Morgana. I have a problem of the inter-dimensional sort… I thought I'd try."

The figure on the other side of the glass, now in clear view, had surprised Willow the first time she had tried this spell, which had been several years ago. When Buffy had decided that she would not return to the life of a slayer, Willow had immediately realized the huge responsibility—being one of the original Scoobies—that this placed upon her. And it had been taxing. There always seemed to be a problem that, no matter how hard she researched it, she could not solve… at least not on her own. She had been studying the Key's properties when Dawn began to secretly help the slayers. And that's when she had stumbled upon the idea. An inter-dimensional witches' coven… what better way to gain access to information that seemed so out of reach? And Morgana had been the first witch she had been able to contact when her spell had worked.

Of course, Morgana was a duck. Not only a duck and a witch, but a duck and a witch with a severe hairstyle. Morgana Macawber—as she had introduced herself upon their first meeting—now drew her white feathered hand up to her chest, a part of her crimson red dress following, as she shook her head again.

"That seems to be the problem of the moment. As it turns out, I was looking for you as well," she said, sighing.

Willow's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?"

"Well, my dearest Dark just brought someone who looks as if she's the same… forgive my choice of wording here, but species as you to my manor tonight. It seemed as if she was transported to our world by a demon that used a very ancient spell, one I'm sure that you have heard of as well. I'm afraid that I'm at a loss as to how to even begin to help her return home."

Eyes wide now, Willow's smile threatened to break her face. She leaned her entire weight upon the glass—the physical representation of the barrier between their dimensions—and laughed.

"This woman… is she blonde, stands about yea tall? Wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt that has a picture of a glittery skull on it? Hair in a ponytail?" Willow asked, holding one hand up to indicate height.

Morgana gasped, nodding.

"Is she also a vampire slayer?" Willow added.

"So Buffy _is_ from your world?" Morgana asked, leaning against the glass as well.

"Yeah! Congratulations, Miss Macawber, you've found our missing slayer! Now… any way to give her back?"

Morgana chuckled. "I'm sure you're encountering the same problem that I am."

Willow stepped back, shaking her loose red hair. "Super massive uber-secret inter-dimensional spell?"

"Not to mention the issue of the Key. I mean, for all the dimensions in all of creation—and that's quite a lot, infinite—there's only one Key. How do we even begin to find it?"

Willow laughed, crossing her arms. "Uh, yeah… we have that. Long story."

Morgana's eyes now threatened to pop out of her head. "Really? Well, that's quite a head start!"

Willow shook her head. "Not really. You see, I've been thinking. The Key was in possession of some monks before we had Dawn. Now, you and I both know that inter-dimensional hopping was still happening while she was not-human."

"The Key's in human form?" Morgana asked.

Willow waved her hand. "Buffy's sister. Not important, but yeah. She's nineteen. But, to get back on point, the demons or whoever was hopping dimensions while Dawn was just pure green energy didn't have to get the key. There's only one spell that needed to have the Key right there… and that one's not a problem at the moment. Another long story."

Morgana cupped her beak, crossing her other arm low across her torso. "You have a point. So… we really have nothing to go on except what we already know about this spell."

"Hello, square one. But! You do have our slayer, which solves a big problem on this end."

Morgana sighed and rolled her eyes. "So glad that I could help."

The two witches fell silent for a moment after that until, finally, Willow shrugged.

"Well, I may not be able to get Buffy back home right now… but it's nice to know that two witches are working on this problem. Not to mention that I have all my Wiccans here working on it too."

Morgana nodded. "Yes. I have all my books out, and I've placed a call to my father. He may be able to help as well. Other than that, I'll do all I can… which, at the moment I'm afraid, is not much."

"Thanks. But there is _one_ more thing you could do for me."

#

"Slayers… there are slayers in this world?" Buffy said, pacing back and forth.

Darkwing, Buffy, Launchpad, and Mindy had fled the lights and the cameras to return to Darkwing's—or rather, Drake Mallard's—home. Darkwing had been a little uneasy, at first, to let Mindy in on his secret identity so quickly, but Buffy had reassured him, reminding him that slayers are some of the best secret keepers in the world. Mindy had agreed, and so they had rushed back to 537 Avian Way as fast as the Ratcatcher could carry the four of them.

Now, Buffy and Darkwing—still in costume—were both busy pacing circles in the carpet before his coffee table, while Gosalyn and Launchpad stared on, fascinated by Mindy, who sat with her feet propped up on the table. On one circle round, Darkwing had grimaced and batted her feet off. Mindy gave a small smile and apologized.

"Why are you so shocked that there are slayers in this dimension, Buffy? I mean, we should all be much more shocked that you're here, being the, uh, human that you are," Mindy said.

Buffy stopped, eyes narrowed. "How did you know that I was from another dimension?"

Mindy shrugged. "My Watcher. He has a friend who's a seer, and she saw a vision of beings from another dimension causing big trouble in St. Canard. And, you know, seeing that you aren't, well, a duck or anything like that, I'm guessing that you and your negative, vampire counterpart is who she meant."

"A likely story," Darkwing said, looking to Buffy for support.

But Buffy only shrugged. "Sadly, that makes perfect sense to me."

"You don't have to be suspicious of me, Darkwing. I'm actually a huge fan of yours. I was totally stoked when my Watcher said that I was to be stationed in St. Canard, to guard its Hellmouth."

Buffy's eyes widened. "I knew it! I knew there was a Hellmouth under this city! All these villains? I knew it!"

"What's a Hellmouth?" Gosalyn asked.

"It's pretty much what it sounds like. A mouth into the big Down South, the Great Below," Mindy explained.

Darkwing, breaking his own rule, took a seat on his coffee table, leaning across it to Mindy.

"How old are you?" he asked, his face solemn all of a sudden.

"Eighteen."

His eyes widened. "What? And you go out, at night, to fight demons and vampires and stuff like that? What do your parents think about all that?"

Mindy frowned, looking away. "I… I never met my parents."

Buffy crossed her arms, shaking her head. "Let me guess. A Watcher came to them, when they knew that you could one day be a slayer, when you were really, really young, and explained to your parents that you were going to have this massively huge destiny ahead of you. That you might, one day, even save that world… but to do all that, they had to give you up to him. So that you could be trained. Am I right?"

Mindy nodded, leaving Darkwing, Launchpad, and Gosalyn to gasp and shake their heads.

"That's horrible," Gosalyn said.

"You got that right, Gos," Launchpad put in.

"You poor kid," Darkwing said, laying a hand on Mindy's.

Mindy smiled at the Masked Mallard, briefly, before suddenly jerking her hand away. Shaking her head and standing, she put her back to the group, shrugging.

"It's no big."

Silence fell. Finally, Buffy took a seat beside Darkwing.

"What about the other slayers? Did their parents give them away too?" she asked.

Mindy turned, her eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean, 'other slayers'? Do you mean potentials?" she asked.

Buffy blinked. "Yeah. That's what I meant."

"Oh. Well, no, not all of them. Some of them slip through the cracks. But that's actually the other reason I am in St. Canard."

Gosalyn gasped and leapt to her feet. "You don't mean that you're going to take some poor girl from her family, do you?"

Mindy only stared at the little duckling a moment, unblinking. Finally, she nodded.

"My Watcher's one that the Council uses to gather potential slayers, and there's one here in St. Canard. But, uh… we don't know who she is. She was hidden because her family didn't want to give her up."

"I don't blame them," Darkwing said, standing.

"I have to agree. Besides, it's been my experience that family and friends makes a slayer stronger," Buffy put in.

"You mean… you weren't taken from your family?"

Buffy shook her head. "I was one who slipped through the cracks in my world. I only know about potentials being given up because I had a friend, Kendra, whose family gave her up. Believe me, Mindy, I feel for you. I'm a better person, and a better slayer, for my family."

Mindy shrugged, muttering, "Whatever."

Before the conversation could progress further, the telephone rang. Darkwing walked to it, automatically saying, "I'll get it," as he answered.

"Hello? Oh, hi, Morg. Yeah, she's here. Heh, you haven't seen the news, have you? What? Never mind. Yeah… we'll be right over," Darkwing said, finally hanging up the phone.

"Morgana wants us over? Did she find something?" Buffy asked, standing.

"I'm not sure. But she says that it's important," Darkwing answered.

"I'm going!" Gosalyn announced, bounding towards the recliners.

"Oh, no you're not. It's way past your bedtime as it is. LP, will you stay here and make sure she gets to bed?" Darkwing said, taking a seat in the rightmost recliner as Buffy and Mindy both squeezed into the left one.

"You got it, DW."

"But, Dad…" Gosalyn began to protest.

"Good night, Gos. You have school tomorrow, remember?"

With that, Darkwing bopped the statue's head, and the three were sent whirling away. Gosalyn rolled her eyes.

"I hate school."


	10. Are You There, Willow?  It's Me, Buffy Summers

Buffy found herself wondering, as she, Darkwing, and Mindy stood on Morgana's front porch, if anyone noticed this weird, creepy manor right in the middle of downtown St. Canard. She did not have long to wonder, as the door—completely of its own volition—opened wide for them. Darkwing eyed the two slayers and shrugged.

"I've always taken that to mean, 'come on in,'" he said.

The three crossed the threshold, the door slamming shut as soon as they had cleared it. Following closely to Darkwing—who was the only one, other than Morgana herself, who really knew how to navigate the house—they eventually came out into the familiar living room, where Morgana sat upon her couch, her two pet bats circling her head, and a spider relaxing on her shoulder.

She glanced up from her dusty spell book, smiling only briefly as her eyes searched the group. However, when they landed upon Mindy, her gaze turned icy. She rose, crossing her arms, and moved only a few steps forward.

"I'm so glad you hurried over, Dark, darling," she said, not a scrap of warmth in her voice.

Darkwing arched a brow. He glanced backwards at the two slayers that had followed him in, as if he had missed something. When he turned back to Morgana, confusion was infused in his next question.

"What's wrong, honeywumpus? Did something happen?" he asked. Then, placing at hand to his chest, he added, "I didn't do anything, did I?"

He sounded a little afraid at that one. Finally, with a sigh, Mindy stepped forward.

"Actually, Darkwing, I think that cold shoulder is directed at me. Morgana and I've met, previously," she said. Then, with a half smile, the young slayer added, "But we've never been formerly introduced. My name's Mindy."

She extended a hand and let it hang there. For a moment, it looked as if Morgana was not going to accept the handshake. But with a roll of her eyes, she grabbed Mindy's hand and shook it once, releasing it quickly.

"I know who you are, vampire slayer," Morgana said, moving back to sit on the couch.

"Wait, wait. You knew about vampire slayers?" Darkwing asked, moving to sit with her.

Morgana shrugged. "I managed to keep the prejudice out of my voice when I met Buffy since I knew, on sight, that she had bigger problems to deal with… but, Dark, my entire family are nothing but monsters and demons. My own father has been hunted by slayers before. I'm sorry, but I sort of grew up with a pre-established prejudice against them."

"But… she's just a kid," Darkwing said, his voice flailing.

Mindy's eyes grew bright, a small smile on her face. "I've heard of your father. Moloculo Macawber, right? Oh, yeah, I've heard of _him_. He gives the Watcher's Council trouble on a regular basis."

Morgana gave a small laugh. "I bet he does. I've _tried_ to get him to stop terrorizing the normals."

Mindy laughed. "Yeah, I know. The Watcher's Council thinks very highly of your efforts."

It was almost as if Morgana's icy demeanor toward the girl visibly melted. She smiled brightly at her and shook her head.

"Oh, really? Well, it's nothing, really. I could be doing more."

"Excuse me!" Buffy interrupted, making the "time-out" symbol with her hands. "Um, I really hate to break up this touching new friendship, but why'd you call us here, Morgana? Did you find something? Darkwing said that it sounded important."

"Oh, dear, yes! I do have something that you need to see! Or rather, hear," she said, standing.

She lifted her spell book up with her and snapped her fingers. Her podium came running, stopping just before her so that she could lay her book upon it. She cleared her throat, and flipped only a single page.

" _Out of sight, but not of mind, let her voice be heard in kind!_ " Morgana shouted upwards.

In the brief moment that the simple spell had taken place, a massive gust of wind had kicked up, throwing open the manor's windows and billowing the curtains. Lightning had flashed, and thunder had crashed… and it had all ended as soon as Morgana had finished saying the words. With a satisfied smile, the duck-witch shut her book with a snap, and retook her seat upon the couch.

"Um," Darkwing said, looking all around, "honey, what exactly was all that?"

"Buffy?" came a voice that did not belong to anyone in the room.

But it was one that Buffy knew immediately. Throwing her eyes up at the ceiling, she smiled.

"W-Will? Is that you? Willow?" she shouted.

"You don't have to yell, Buffy. I can hear you just fine, and you should be able to hear me just as well," her disembodied friend replied.

Mindy's eyes narrowed as she looked to the witch that was fully present in the room.

"What is this, Morgana?" she asked.

"It's the quickest—and frankly, easiest—spell that Willow and I both knew so that the two could communicate across the inter-dimensional barriers. The other one is much too time and energy consuming to do at the moment," she answered.

Darkwing rose, staring up at the ceiling alongside Buffy.

"You know the person talking?" he asked. "I mean, she's from your world?"

"Yeah," Buffy said, grinning from ear to ear. "One of my besties."

Turning away from the Masked Mallard, she gazed back up at the ceiling and continued her conversation.

"Will, are you a sound for sore ears! Oh my God, have I been worried! Where's Dawn? What happened at the warehouse after I poofed? Is everyone all right?"

She could almost imagine her friend raising her hands to calm her. More than ever before, Buffy felt the ache for home.

"Everyone's fine, Buffy. The demons just sort of left after you poofed. Dawn's a little upset, but she's not hurt. Then I talked to Morgana and found out that you were in her world, which, let me tell you, saves us a lot of trouble on our end," Willow answered.

"You know Morg?" Darkwing asked, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Who's that?" Willow asked.

"Oh, that's, well, my boyfriend, Darkwing Duck," Morgana answered.

"Oh, pleased to meet you," Willow said.

"Yeah, likewise," Darkwing responded.

"I'm Mindy," Mindy put in, staring up at the ceiling as well.

"Yeah, Mindy's a vampire slayer in this world. They have slayers in this world too, Will," Buffy said.

"Oh, really? That's so strange. I wonder if the origin is the same?"

"With the Shadow Men stealing a girl from a nearby village and imbuing her with the essence of a demon?" Mindy asked.

"Yes! Wow. Our worlds are so completely different, but so alike in so many ways. Do you know that they even have Star Wars in their world, Buffy?"

Buffy laughed. "Andrew would be happy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all acquainted?" Darkwing asked. When he got mumbles of assent, he said, "Now, is anyone going to explain how my girlfriend knew about your dimension? And how your friend knew about our dimension?"

"You know, Will. You _did_ know about a world full of talking ducks—no offense, guys. That does raise some questions… like, why not mention it to the rest of the Scoobies?" Buffy asked.

The usage of "Scoobies" got some stares, but no one asked any questions. There were just so many already on the plate.

"Well," Morgana began, "Willow and I were trying to keep it all under wraps until we got a bit more networked."

"Got what networked?" Mindy asked.

"Well, I've been playing with inter-dimensional magic—what little that humans can actually access without working full-on with demons—for a while now. I happened to be working on establishing connections with other dimensions on the same night that Morgana was doing a little magical experimenting herself. We both accidently stumbled into The Black Room—"

"The Black Room?" Darkwing asked.

"Long story, Dark. But the short of it is that Willow and I decided to start an inter-dimensional witches' coven. We've been slowly working on communicating with other dimensions since then."

"But not travelling?" Mindy asked.

At this point, both witches sighed and said, "No. Not travelling."

"And so we are back to our problem," Darkwing said, all but collapsing back onto the couch.

"Afraid so," Willow said.

"But… but this will help, having the two of you able to communicate, right?" Buffy asked.

"It can't hurt."

"Wait… I don't get it. Why can we talk to other dimensions, but not travel to them?" Mindy asked.

"Well, it takes a lot of work just to work a spell to get a voice across the barrier—a lot more than what it seemed a minute ago. I can't begin to describe the power necessary to do it with a whole body. Without the spell we need, it's virtually impossible," Morgana sighed.

"Super secret spell, again?" Buffy asked.

Morgana nodded as Willowed muttered, "Yes."

"But, wait… Negaduck did it," Darkwing said, standing.

"He's right," Buffy and Mindy said in unison.

"Who did it?" Willow asked.

"What do you mean, 'Negaduck did it'? How? Who'd he bring across? Because if you're talking about Negaduck crossing over from the Negaverse, that's an entirely different issue. You see, there's a tear in this world between our two dimensions. And believe me, Dark, that's a hell of a lot easier to maneuver. I _wish_ there was a tear between ours and Buffy's world," Morgana said.

"No, I mean, he brought NegaBuffy into our dimension," Darkwing said, shaking his head.

"Who? Who are we talking about?" Willow asked.

"You mean, there's a negative version of Buffy in our world too?" Morgana asked, wonder in her voice.

"A vampire negative version," Mindy nodded.

"I'm lost," Willow said. "Someone catch me up."

And Buffy did, telling Morgana and Willow both the story of the appearance of her negative, vampiric counterpart. She told them about the fight at the power company, and everything that had happened since she had last been at Macawber Manor. At the end of it, Willow whistled.

"Wow. And this Negaduck… he's Darkwing's doppelganger?" Willow asked.

"Evil doppelganger, yes," Darkwing answered.

"And I've got to tell you, I wasn't too thrilled about meeting vampire me. It was so not a day at the beach," Buffy said.

"Welcome to the club. We're thinking about getting shirts," Willow huffed.

"Huh?" Darkwing asked.

"Oh, Will's already been there, done that," Buffy said, in lieu of explanation.

For a moment, it looked like Darkwing was going to question the situation further. But he only sighed, waving it off. Buffy turned her eyes back to the ceiling.

"Hey, Will? Would it be possible for me to talk to Dawn? It'd make me feel better to, you know, hear from her."

"Sure, hang on," Willow responded.

No one spoke for a moment, all eyes in the manor turned to the ceiling. In these quiet moments, Buffy found herself wondering why exactly it was the ceiling that they all chose to stare at to talk to Willow. It was not like her home dimension was _above_ Darkwing's, was it?

"Buffy?" Dawn's voice sounded.

"Dawnie! Dawn, how are you? Are you all right?" Buffy asked, fighting the urge to climb the couch to get closer to the ceiling.

Again, why was it the ceiling? Maybe it was some sort of off-shoot God complex. A disembodied voice talks to you, you automatically assume "up." It was better than assuming "down."

"Buffy! I'm fine! Buffy, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! If I hadn't been there—"

"Oh, shut up! What're you even saying? This could not be further from being your fault! But you're okay? So is everyone else? What was that flash of green light from you?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, I think I can explain that. You see, the spell to hop dimensions without creating a permanent tear requires the usage of the Key," Willow input.

"Oh. But still, not your fault, Dawnie. I'm sure that it would've happened whether you had been there or not," Buffy said.

"She's right, Dawn," Willow said.

Dawn did not respond. After a few moments, Morgana shook her head.

"So what are we going to do about getting Buffy home?" she asked.

"Well, we have the Key safe and sound here in our world," Willow began. "Not that that is particularly necessary…"

"Yay. Go me," Dawn said, sounding less than thrilled.

"But we still need that spell. That's going to take some doing. But you know what they say… two heads are better than one. Maybe with our group working on it here, and your group working on it over there, we can have this puppy solved in no time."

"Well, actually, you guys take your time with that," Buffy said.

Collectively, the group turned to gape at her. She crossed her arms, planting herself firmly in place.

"It's my fault that Negaduck got the bright idea to bring NegaBuffy here. It's my fault. I won't leave you guys to deal with my mess. I can go home after I clean her clock."

Darkwing huffed, crossing his arms. "I think I can handle it just fine, thank you."

"Even so, I take responsibility for my screw ups. I'm not leaving until I help you fix this. I'm not that kind of person."

Darkwing's brow lifted as he glanced back at the slayer, but he said nothing. Willow sighed.

"Well, you might have plenty of time to clean up after yourself anyway… unless you can get this Negaduck to spill the spell to you."

Darkwing and Morgana laughed. "I think you'll have better luck getting it from a demon," Darkwing said.

"Well, there you have it. Our plan so far. This spell is getting a little taxing, guys, so I'm going to sign it off," Willow said, her voice already growing faint.

"Be safe, Buffy!" Dawn managed to shout.

"You too!" Buffy yelled back.

"We will… home. Promise," Willow said, her voice fading in and out.

And then, they were gone. Buffy turned around to Morgana, Darkwing, and Mindy.

"All right, then, guys. Darkwing, since you seem to have a lot of experience with this, how does one go about fighting themselves?"

Darkwing grinned. "Practice."

#

Willow sighed. She turned to Dawn, who looked a little red and blotchy around her eyes. She patted the girl's shoulders and shook her head.

"Dawn, you heard it from Buffy herself, this is _not_ your fault. Why don't you go rest? I'll continue to do some research."

Dawn nodded and left the room without a word. But, instead of heading up the hall to her own bedroom, she turned and made her way into the sitting room. With a couple of quick glances to make sure that no one was around, she went to the lone telephone in the room and dialed a cell number she had memorized.

Two rings, and then a familiar cockney accent answered.

"Yeah?"

"Spike?" Dawn whispered. "Is that you?"

"Dawnie? What's wrong? Why are you whispering? Are you hurt?" he asked.

She could tell that he had just removed a cigarette from his mouth. She grinned. Sometimes, no matter the reason, talking to a familiar friend just lifted your spirits.

"I'm fine. But, I need your help. Are you in Cleveland?" she asked.

"No, but I can be. Tonight, if it's urgent."

"It is. I need some help gathering an item. Buffy's in trouble, and I think this item will help her."

No answer at first. Dawn sighed.

Her research had led her to only one possible spell that might work… but to do it, it required the Kwoe Crystal, which was protected. By big, mean, ugly, nasty demons. And several of them.

"Niblet, why not ask the witch or the cyclops for help? Surely they want to help Buffy," Spike said finally.

"I can't. I mean, they don't think that this can help her, but… but I think that it's her only chance. Please. Will you help me?"

Another silence. Dawn felt her stomach twist. It was a little white lie. After all, hiding the Key would have to wait until Buffy had returned from her little forced vacation… just to be safe. But Dawn was not having to fake the conviction in her voice. This spell was necessary, vital, if she was going to remove herself as a threat to the slayers.

"I'll be there in an hour," Spike said.

Dawn sighed in relief. "Thanks. I'll call you to tell you where to meet me."

"Fine."

She heard the click as the call ended. Slipping out of the sitting room, she dashed up the hallway to her room. Once inside, she grinned. It would take only minutes for her to ready herself for the upcoming fight… and then she would be one step closer to ridding herself of this stupid Key.

As for sneaking out of the Cleveland House undetected, well… thank God she had been an unruly youth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so why is Dawn hell bent on removing the Key if the Key is going to transport people whether it is there or not? Let's just say, Dawn's a little paranoid and disbelieving of that. I must apologize for all the talk in this chapter, but I promise that I have plenty of action coming up in this story. The crap has only begun to hit the fan for our heroes.


	11. Bad... And They're Drawn that Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little warning... this chapter has some violent content. You can expect to see more of this as the story progresses.

The guards had been easy kills. A couple of swings of the chainsaw, a couple of snapped necks, and both NegaBuffy and Negaduck had simply strolled right into the St. Canard High Security Prison.

It was such a warm and fuzzy feeling when two people with such similar goals found each other. Negaduck quite enjoyed his partner's blood lust, just as she relished in his.

Megavolt, on the other hand, was just like having an annoying little kid, tagging along behind them, oohing and ahhing at all the carnage.

Chainsaw revving, the three entered the main hall of the prison, and stopped as all the cops did one of two things—half ran at them, and the other half ran _from_ them. Negaduck cackled as guns were pulled. NegaBuffy stepped deftly in front of the Mallard Menace, taking all the bullets fired. When the cops stopped, they gasped. The bullets were simply falling out of her, the wounds healing instantly. She laughed.

"My turn?" she asked.

They ran, most screaming "Monster!" With the slightest turn of her head, NegaBuffy let her eyes fall upon Megavolt.

"Shoot your lightning. Now," she said.

Megavolt gave her a questioning glance, and even looked for a moment like he was going to argue with her. But Negaduck brandished his chainsaw in front of him, and he only nodded. With a deep breath, he moved to the front of the three. Holding out both his hands, flat with the palm down, he let out a small cry and pushed as much electricity from himself as possible.

It was an electric web of death. The bolts from his fingers reached the first guards, the poor fools that had been stuck at the back of the retreating herd, and shot through them, going through each cop in turn. When Megavolt stopped, his eyes wide, afraid even, every single cop fell, dead, to the ground. NegaBuffy cheered and Negaduck laughed. Megavolt only stood there, continuing to stare. With a little sashay, NegaBuffy stepped over the arms and legs of each of the dead cops, making her way to the main control room, Negaduck following behind. Her boots clicked as she slowly climbed the stairs, smiling and waving at the faces of the inmates that were beginning to get curious about all the ruckus.

Negaduck ran his chainsaw along their bars, causing them to jump back as sparks flew.

Megavolt had caught up with his comrades of crime, seeming to try and shake himself free of whatever it was that had frozen him for the moment. NegaBuffy reached the topmost floor, swinging herself over the threshold of the bullet-proof glass protected room, and stopped, smiling to see the operator cowering in one corner. Megavolt let a whimper loose that was just shy of "inaudible." Negaduck stepped forward, ready to dispatch the operator, but the vampire stopped him.

"I've seen what you can do. And now I've seen what he can do. Let me have some fun now," she said.

Negaduck blinked and looked ready to argue, but NegaBuffy gave him no further opportunity. She swooped down upon the dog in the brown officer's uniform, scooping him up in one hand and pressed her now fang-filled mouth to his neck. He cried out for exactly 4.5 seconds before growing limp in her hold. With a satisfied sigh, she released him, tossing the body carelessly to a corner across the small room, and licked the blood from her lips.

"I usually don't make such a mess… but it seems like _forever_ since I've fed. I decided to pig out," she grinned, wiping the last of the crimson liquid from her mouth.

Megavolt looked simply green as he pressed a blue-gloved hand to his mouth. Negaduck only looked… ravenous, like he was seconds away from demanding an encore. NegaBuffy walked to the consol, gazing down at all the lights and buttons and switches. Crossing her arms, she shook her head.

"Unfortunately, I was never one for technology. Always a couple of steps behind it," she said.

"Allow me," Negaduck said, sweeping forward and stashing away his chainsaw somewhere within the folds of his cape.

He lifted both hands, letting his fingers wiggle just a bit, before he began to press several of the glowing buttons. Outside the room, loud buzzers sounded. Metal scrapped on metal as the bars of all the cells slid open. And curious murmurs filled the prison as, like babes taking their first steps, the inmates stepped beyond the confines of their cells.

"Showtime," Negaduck said, withdrawing his chainsaw once more as he exited the room.

The two villains and the vampire stepped out of the control room, stopping as they reached the edge of the balcony platform, directly overlooking the ever-filling main hall in the bottom-middle of the prison cells. Not one set of eyes gazed upwards at the three that had set them all free, and NegaBuffy smirked.

"How will you ever gain all their of their attentions?" she asked, her voice sickeningly sweet.

Negaduck revved his trusty chainsaw, lifting it high in the air, as he cried out over it, "Oy, listen up, you knobs!"

Talking immediately ceased as all eyes found the three of them. NegaBuffy clapped her hands lightly.

"Bravo," she said.

Negaduck ignored her, instead putting all his focus on the inmates in front of him.

"The three of us are the ones that freed all of you, for one sole purpose: the utter destruction of St. Canard!"

A loud, simultaneous roar overtook the prison as several fists punched the air. Negaduck revved his chainsaw once again for attention.

"There's only one condition! Darkwing, and all his little gang of goody two-shoes, belong… to us," he growled.

There were some grumblings of disagreement at that. But Negaduck and NegaBuffy had prepared for such an occasion. After all, the vast majority—if not _all_ —of these hardened felons were in their cells doing twenty-five to life _because_ of that annoying, flapping terror. But they would agree with their dark saviors soon enough.

"And what makes the three of youse so special?" cried someone from the crowd.

"This," Negaduck grinned, gesturing to NegaBuffy.

NegaBuffy, meanwhile, had separated from her little group long enough to pick some random, anonymous criminal from the crowd. She had picked the toughest, meanest looking body-building killer and had dragged him, like a helpless little puppy, up to their self-made stage. With the brightest, most innocent smile she could manage, she whirled the crook around, forced his head to the left, and bit deeply into his neck. Again, she was deliberately messy, allowing some of the precious blood to spurt from her mouth, and making her fangs tear holes that were much bigger than necessary. When he was drained, and limp, she tossed him over the rail and into the space that the crowd below had made. They all looked up in shushed terror.

"Any questions?" Negaduck said.

A general "no," was reached. Negaduck chuckled. "Good. Now, have a ball, guys!"

The crowd cheered, turning, and almost trampling one another as they made their way out of the prison. Negaduck turned to NegaBuffy and swept his hat from atop his head in a bow.

"I must say, that was a rather fine demonstration," he said, grinning up at her.

"Well, thank you. You don't strike me as the type to give out compliments easily," NegaBuffy said.

"He's not," Megavolt murmured.

"I can't deny a masterful display when I see one," Negaduck said.

"Y-yeah. Th-tha-that was something," a familiar voice stuttered.

The three turned, but Megavolt was the only one to grin at the newest arrivals. Liquidator, Bushroot, and Quackerjack stood at the bend in the rails, all looking cautiously curious. NegaBuffy cocked her head.

"And who are you?"

"Oh, jeez," Negaduck groaned, pulling his hat down roughly on his head. "These knobs are _former_ associates of mine."

"Really? And, do the three of you have powers, like the electric rat here?" the vampire asked, gesturing to Megavolt, who dared not get offended.

Liquidator immediately formed himself into a tidal wave, allowing himself to crash back down to the bottom level of the prison. Bushroot pointed to an innocent little African violet that sat on the other side of the bullet-proof glass of the control room and said, "Come on, little one." Immediately, the violet grew into an immense vine, shattering the glass and wrapping itself, anaconda-like, around Megavolt—who did protest this time. Bushroot chuckled, saying a quick, "Sorry, Sparky," and instructed the vine to drop him and retreat.

"Impressive," NegaBuffy said. "And I suppose you wish to join us?"

"Look, look!" Quackerjack said, bounding head over heel towards the vampire. When he landed behind her, he withdrew a slinky, attaching each end to the rail. From his pocket he pulled out four, harmless-looking plastic toys. He loaded them into the slingshot-slinky and launched them into floor below, where they promptly exploded.

"He has no super powers," Negaduck said, by way of explanation.

"Is he good with technologies? Or is that pretty much the extent of it?" NegaBuffy asked.

"Well," Negaduck began, but Bushroot cut him off.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Quackerjack's a mechanical genius," he said.

With a growl, Negaduck swung his chainsaw at the half-plant, half-duck, and Bushroot managed to duck with only seconds to spare. NegaBuffy laughed.

"Very well. I suppose the four of you have your uses," she said, and the rest of the Fearsome Five grinned in satisfaction while Negaduck rolled his eyes.

"So, what's the plan, ma'am?" Quackerjack asked, bounding back to stand with Bushroot, the newly rejoined Liquidator, and Megavolt—who just seemed to feel more comfortable among his teammates rather than standing close to the vampire.

"We've already completed step one, minus a few minor details," NegaBuffy said.

"Like what?" Negaduck asked.

NegaBuffy picked at her front teeth with the pinky of her right hand. "Well, it requires me having several more meals… I do hate to gorge myself, but I think I will tonight. We'll call it a special occasion."

"What's step two?" Bushroot asked.

NegaBuffy grinned. "Step two is the total destruction of the slayer line. Something that is _long_ overdue in this dimension."

Bushroot, Liquidator, and Quackerjack looked confused by this, but Megavolt and Negaduck only nodded.

"And how do we do that?" the Mallard Menace asked.

"Oh, you'll quite enjoy that part, Negaduck. It involves the killing of an almost untold number of innocents. But first, we have to find out who and where they are. Slayers who aren't yet slayers are called potentials, and there's a list of them that the Watcher's Council—those who train those prissy little girls—keep hidden."

"So where do we look?" Megavolt asked.

"Well, I've noticed many similarities between my world and this one, and I have a feeling that I know _exactly_ where to look for this list. Let's go."

The Fearsome Four turned and began to exit the prison immediately, followed by NegaBuffy. A few steps later, she stopped, turning to Negaduck.

"I think it's time that I took you to a place that you would _really_ enjoy, in thanks for bringing me to such a fun little world."

He raised a brow at her. "Really? What do you have in mind?"

The vampire only grinned.

#

"Just like old times," Dawn chuckled, shoving her free hand inside her jacket's pocket.

Slipping out of the Cleveland House had been even easier than she had imagined. With all of the free resources currently dedicated to bringing Buffy back into their dimension, nobody had even questioned Dawn as she slipped out the front door. Normally, she would have been hurt by the seeming lack of caring, but now she welcomed it. It was tiresome being thought of as the little one, the one that needed protecting. Tiresome, and more often than not, suffocating.

But she had slipped away and managed to call Spike from a payphone, a rare find in today's day and age, instructing him to meet her at a grocery store that was several blocks from the Cleveland House. As promised, Mr. Big Bad himself had made it to her in exactly one hour, and the two had loaded into the car—which he said he had "borrowed" from Angel—and driven to the bad part of Cleveland.

"I managed to track these demons to an abandoned building smack in the middle of this street," Dawn said as they turned.

Spike nodded, pulling the vehicle to the curb and parking.

"Best to hoof it from here then," he said, getting out.

Because it was, indeed, the bad part of town, they locked all doors on the black car, and Spike only shrugged when Dawn asked if criminals would not just bust out the windows. The two then walked, shoulder to shoulder, weapons in hand, up the road to their destination.

"So, uh, Dawnie, you never did mention _exactly_ what was wrong with Buffy. Is she hurt? And what is it that you're looking for here? What are we up against?" Spike asked.

Dawn blushed. She hated keeping so much information from a friend. But if he knew she what had planned, he would have never agreed to help her. Instead, like the others, he would try to convince her that she was just being paranoid and silly.

"Buffy's not hurt, but she _is_ in trouble. She's, ah, in another dimension," Dawn explained.

After all, a little truth never hurt. Spike's eyes widened as he stared down at her.

"Come again?"

Dawn shrugged, not wanting to go into the full story. After all, if her involvement, willing or not, were to come up, this whole little mission would be questioned. Best to keep it basic.

"Yeah, some demon zapped her to another universe, where—get this—there are talking ducks! Willow says they walk around and talk just like us, even dress like us—though some don't wear pants for some reason."

"Ducks? Seriously?"

Dawn laughed. "Yeah, that'd be all right, but that's not even half of it. Seems that one of the ducks she met—Darkwing Duck's his name—is a superhero, like Batman or something. And one of his villains, which is a negative doppelganger of his from yet another dimension, found a negative doppelganger of Buffy from even _another_ dimension, who's a vamp."

Silence. Then, "Bloody hell."

Dawn nodded as Spike could only shake his head. Finally, with a slight chuckle, he said, "Ducks? For real?"

"Yeah. Afraid so."

"Okay… so, what is it that we're getting from these demons? I have to confess, Niblet, that I'm a little worried about this being so hush-hush from everyone. I thought we might be trying to raise the dead again."

Dawn grimaced, thinking back on the exact incident that Spike referred to. She had realized, almost too late, that it was a horrible idea to raise someone from the dead. Particularly your own mother. Let the dead stay that way. They probably deserved the rest.

Spike placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry. Didn't realize that that was a painful memory, per se."

Dawn shook her head. "It's not. Really. Not anymore. But I'm sorry… about keeping this so vague. It's a crystal, guarded by a hive of demons. I think it'll help Buffy."

"Hive of demons. Better than a bloody dragon. I still don't get why the others aren't even trying this," he said.

Dawn's lips parted, trying her best to come up with a liable excuse. Thankfully, she was saved from doing such as Spike put out a hand to stop her.

"I can smell them. A whole lot of 'em. At least ten, maybe more," he said, tilting his head to the left.

The building that loomed beside them had at least six floors. The bricks were graying from age, and all the windows were boarded up… a little too well for an abandoned building. Dawn brought her axe close to her body.

"I'm ready," she said.

Spike sighed, glancing between the girl and the building.

"How sure are you that this will help her?"

"Pretty sure."

"Give a man a percentage?"

"… Eighty-five?"

Spike rolled his eyes, flipping the sword he carried around in his hand. "I was afraid of that. Let us go."

With a decisive nod, Dawn followed the vampire into the building 


	12. Ninety-Nine Problems and a Bitch is One

The Ratcatcher had been abandoned several streets back. It had taken only two blocks of driving for Darkwing, Buffy, and Mindy to see that going on foot to fight the chaos developing in St. Canard was the only way.

The streets were filled with criminals… and not in the way that news reporters and politicians like to say. Literally. Every where the Mighty Mallard and the two slayers looked, there was some felon crashing into store fronts, terrorizing the populace, or setting fires. Half the city looked like it was burning, and it was the three of them against the world.

Huffing and puffing after his fifteenth or sixteenth put down of a villain, Darkwing had wiped his brow and turned to Buffy and Mindy.

"I don't usually ask for help, but… in light of the circumstances," he said.

Buffy and Mindy had already been assisting, when he would allow. The duck had a huge ego, that was for sure. But both girls only nodded when he had asked. Even Darkwing knew when to put the greater good in front of ego.

So the three had fought their way into the heart of downtown St. Canard, each one covering the other's back as they went. Darkwing, Buffy had to admit, impressed her. Without the aid of superpowers, he was still more than a match for the felons that came at him. And he was dedicated. The average citizen, playing at being the hero, might have given up several criminals ago. But not Darkwing. His bravado and witty banter was present at every take down, and except for the occasional breathers, he showed no sign of slowing.

And the same applied to Mindy. She was a well trained slayer, who knew how to quickly and efficiently dispatch her enemy. A lot of her fighting style reminded Buffy of Kendra—the first slayer, other than herself, that she had ever met—all business and no play.

"Mindy, watch out!" Darkwing shouted as a figure closed in on the girl.

Strong arms, feather white, enclosed themselves around St. Canard's resident slayer. Darkwing rushed to the girl's aid, but was stopped as a rather brutish canine, with a tattooed "Mom" on his left bicep, rushed at the Flapping Terror. Buffy ducked under her own, living attacker, kicking at the back of his knees, which sent him flailing to the ground. She was on her feet again in time to see Mindy free herself of the hold and flip her attacker over her shoulder to the ground. And Buffy stopped, eyes wide.

Fangs protruded from the duck's bill, and his eyes glowed red as he hissed up at Mindy. Mindy, however, did not look shaken in the least. Withdrawing a stake from the inside of her jacket, she came down upon the vampire duck, dusting him in one blow. Meanwhile, Darkwing put down his criminal, taking the liberty of subduing Buffy's attacker as well.

For the moment, they were felon-free as Mindy looked up at her fellow slayer.

"What's wrong? You act like you have never seen one of these before," she said, pointing to the now billowing dust.

"Ew," Darkwing said, watching the remains of the vampire swirl away.

Buffy shook her head, biting the inside of her bottom lip. "I—" she managed before bursting into laughter. Bending over, she placed her hands on her knees, shaking her head. Mindy and Darkwing looked down at her, exchanging looks of confusion.

"What?" Darkwing asked.

"I don't get it," Mindy said.

Buffy gasped, leaning back up and wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just… vampire ducks! I'm so sorry! I c-can't…"

"Is this a joke only funny to those from your dimension?" Darkwing said, a little harshly as he crossed his arms.

Buffy gasped again, smiling and nodding. Mindy rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Can we take a break from the hilarity to discuss what the hell is going on around here?" she asked.

"Language," Darkwing said before he could stop. Then, with a shrug, he added, "Sorry. Habit."

"I'm not a kid! Just because I'm eighteen, doesn't mean that you can treat me like one!" Mindy said, crossing her own arms.

"You remind me of Gosalyn, sorry," he said, waving his hands dismissively.

Mindy dropped her arms at that, nodding only. Buffy, finally back in control of her fit of laughter, nodded.

"Mindy's right, though. Is St. Canard usually this full of criminals?" she asked.

"Nope. This is a record. In fact, a few of the ones we've taken out I know for a fact were incarcerated. It's like someone let out an entire prison's worth of criminals."

"Is that something Negaduck would do?" Mindy asked.

"Heh. Is my costume purple?" Darkwing scoffed.

"Hold that thought," Buffy said, pointing behind Mindy.

Where there had been only one attacking vampire, there were now six, coming fast and right at the three of them. Mindy and Buffy both stepped forward, with Mindy handing Buffy a stake, and tossing another one to Darkwing. But Buffy shoved Darkwing behind her.

"Let us handle these guys," she said as the Masked Mallard peeked out from behind her.

The two lost no time in engaging their enemy. Buffy and Mindy each slayed the first ones that came to them, easily, with the others being a bit more dodgy. Buffy ducked, punched, kicked, and stabbed. The two vampires—another duck and a dog—were obviously new to their powers, and were easy, in the long run, to kill. As soon as Buffy had dusted the three that had come at her, she turned to see Mindy struggling with the two—both heavy-set ducks—that were left for her. Darkwing moved to help her, but Buffy shouted a quick, "I've got it."

She pulled away the one that had latched himself onto Mindy's back, beating him to the ground and ramming the stake into his heart. Mindy was then knocked into her as the other landed a hard right hook into her beak. The vampire turned his attention away from the two slayers, his eyes falling upon Darkwing—who, despite a small gulp, readied himself for a fight. But Mindy untangled herself at the last minute, tackling the vampire and dusting him. Darkwing sighed and reached out a hand to help her to her feet, which she accepted with a smile.

"Thanks," she said, turning around to Buffy.

"Don't mention it," she said, wiping the dust from her jeans.

"You know, having two slayers around isn't so bad. I wish there were more of us," Mindy said.

Buffy frowned, saying nothing. After all, was it really her place to tell her everything that had transpired in her world? And who was to say that the decision Buffy had made would be the correct one for this dimension? She had already caused enough trouble by falling into St. Canard.

Darkwing scratched his head underneath his hat. "What the heck's going on around here? I've been the hero for this town for years now, and I've never seen anything remotely like that!"

Buffy blinked, a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Mindy… do you think that something's up with the Hellmouth?"

Mindy's eyes grew wide. "Oh, no… that's a possibility… maybe an even bigger one with Negaduck and NegaBuffy running loose."

Buffy shook her head. "All right. I'll go deal with it. I have a lot of experience with Hellmouths, trust me. I'll take Darkwing, since he knows St. Canard. Can you handle things here?"

Mindy nodded. "He's taken out the worse of the normals. I can handle the vamps, no problem."

"Now wait a minute," Darkwing said, "we're not leaving her here by herself!"

A growl in the distance drew the attention of the three of them, as another set of vampires began to walk out of the woodwork. Mindy shook her head.

"I'm equipped to deal with these things. Seriously. You go with Buffy. I'll be fine, promise."

Darkwing did not look in the least bit convinced, but sighed in defeat.

"Fine. Where's this Hellmouth at?"

"St. Canard P.S. 4," Mindy said. "Now go!"

Darkwing nodded, waving at Buffy to follow. They were several blocks away from Mindy, with Darkwing leading Buffy around corner after corner, when the Mighty Masked Mallard finally sighed in disgust.

"I can't believe it," he huffed, finally stopping as a long, linear school building came into view. "I just can't believe it."

"What is it?" Buffy asked.

"P.S. 4 is Gosalyn's school," he said, pointing to it.

Buffy laughed, shaking her head. Darkwing raised a brow, glaring up at her.

"I don't find anything funny about this," he said.

"Sorry. It really isn't. It's just… I just got hit by a nasty case of nostalgia. It's a long story. Let's go!"

The two ran directly to the front doors, finding them blasted open. Darkwing shook his head, muttering, "Negaduck," as they ran to the end of the hall and stopped.

There were three different, darkened school halls to choose from. Darkwing glanced up each locker filled corridor before finally sighing.

"How do we know where to look?" he asked.

"Library or basement. Just trust me on this one," she said.

Darkwing nodded. "Basement's this way, I think," he pointed.

The two crossed the hall, Buffy's sneakers squeaking on the polished floor, and came to a stop in front of a pine door that clearly announced itself as the entrance to the school's basement. With a deep breath, Darkwing pulled it open, and the two started down the unlit stairs.

They had neared the bottom when they stopped, Darkwing pulling Buffy off to the side behind a pair of lockers that had been ripped from the walls and discarded. They peeked out from either side as Negaduck and NegaBuffy stood with their backs to them before a large seal, located on a bit of wall that looked like it had been busted through only recently. The seal looked scarily similar to the one that Buffy knew as the entrance to the Hellmouth in her own world, a goat with its tongue out in an upside down star. She shook her head.

"Not good," she whispered to Darkwing.

"What are they doing?" he murmured back.

Buffy did not answer. Instead, she made herself focus in on the two villains. NegaBuffy was chanting a spell of some sort, holding up both of her hands, almost in praise, before the Hellmouth. Negaduck had his arms crossed and looked fairly bored.

"Oh, yeah, NegaBuff, this place is a _riot_ ," he said, rolling his eyes.

NegaBuffy's chanting stopped abruptly, and nothing happened. She tilted her head upwards, looking more than a little disappointed.

"Well, this was a giant waste of time. Why don't we just crack this puppy open?" Negaduck said, tapping the seal.

Suddenly, a little white light flashed above the two and a single sheet of well-worn parchment paper floated down before NegaBuffy, who grabbed it eagerly.

"All in due time. We have what we came for."

"How did you know that would be here?" Negaduck asked.

"The Watchers in my world, in their desperation to keep it from us, had hidden it in a similar place. Now, let's go," she said, turning.

In unison, both Darkwing and Buffy stepped out into their paths. They stopped, shaking their heads.

"Give it up, Negaduck. The game's over," Darkwing said, withdrawing his gas gun.

Negaduck pulled back his cape, his hand reaching into it, when NegaBuffy stopped him.

"Later. We have bigger fish to fry," she said.

"Oh, they don't come much bigger than us," Buffy said.

Negaduck sighed. "I hate to run, but the chick's right. Places to go, people to kill. See ya!"

From his cape, he withdrew a lit bomb. Buffy shook her head.

"This dimension is crazy!" she shouted as both she and Darkwing leapt out of the way.

Negaduck chucked the bomb in their direction as he and NegaBuffy made their escape up the stairs. Darkwing deftly caught the bomb, looking from left to right in a panic.

"What are you doing?" Buffy shouted at him.

At the last moment, he shoved the bomb inside of the lockers, slamming the door. The metal structures took all of the blast. Buffy sighed.

"I won't look a gift horse in the mouth… no matter what I think about that," she said, pointing at the lockers.

"I find that's best. Let's go!" Darkwing shouted.

The two bounded up the stairs and out of the school, only to realize that their doppelgangers were long gone. Buffy swore, kicking at the ground while Darkwing only groaned.

"What do you think that paper was?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know… but I have a bad feeling about it," Darkwing replied. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, the idea of the list comes to me from a Buffy novel I read once called Pretty Maids All in a Row. I think I've put my own spin on it here, but it's heavily inspired by that novel.
> 
> Fun Fact: I threw a Halloween Party several years ago, which included a costume contest. The winner of said contest was a friend of mine from Japan who had sewn her own costume… a vampire duck. So, although she may never read this fic, I thought of her as I wrote for the first appearance of a vampire duck in this chapter.


	13. Two in Hand

It was amazing, and nothing short of a miracle, that Dawn and Spike drew absolutely no attention as they entered the Cleveland House. Holding her right side, which she was pretty sure had suffered some bruised ribs, Dawn gripped the main door of the house, leaning on it heavily. Spike sighed, staring at the threshold—his cuts and bruises already healing.

"Come on in," Dawn said, as quietly as she could without having to whisper.

He hesitated a moment, unsure if her invitation would work. But, lifting his right foot, he found entry into the Cleveland House to be more than possible. He shut the door behind him, putting an arm around Dawn as she stumbled trying to make her way to the room.

"You should see Will. That one demon clocked you a good one," Spike said, steadying her.

The fight had been gruesome. Although Spike's initial guess of ten demons had been correct, there was no way he could have known the sheer ferocity with which they would defend their precious Kwoe Crystal. And they had been armed enough to do so. Each of their ten, red skinned fingers had razor sharp claws on them, each claw extending a least a foot out from the finger. They had been huge, bulky figures, with horns that were thick and black that curled skyward. And they had breathed fire. That had bothered Spike quite a bit.

He had gotten the worse of it, trying to defend Dawn while she duck and wove her way towards the pedestal on which the Kwoe Crystal had stood. Three long scratches bled down her right cheek from where one demon had caught her right before she had managed a lucky swing to take its head. Of course, that had immediately been followed by another bashing her right over the head. It had been a good thing that it had only dizzied her, and not knocked her unconscious. More cuts, bruises, and knots had followed in that fight before, finally, they had emerged victorious. Now, Dawn held the blue-white crystal close to her body, finding its weight more of a relief than a burden. She stared down at its geode-crystal like quality and marveled at its size—easily the size of her whole head.

"No," she said, shaking her head and breaking away from Spike. "I can't go to Willow. Remember? I have to get to my room… before she sees me."

Dawn put all her remaining strength into her legs, urging them around the corner, up the hall, and to her door. She leaned on the rough wooden surface of the entryway heavily for a moment before twisting the knob and all but falling into her room. She turned, only vaguely surprised to find that Spike had followed her all the way there. She planted herself firmly in the doorway.

"I can't thank you enough, Spike. But I can handle it from here. In fact, I have to," she said.

Spike shook his head. "Something about all this is setting alarms off in my head, Dawnie. And you aren't well. You need healing."

Dawn cracked a smile and even found that painful. "I'm _fine_. Seriously. Now, thank you, but good bye."

With that, she shut the door, making sure to lock it every way she had—which included some magic ones that Willow had implemented.

#

Spike did not like it. Something was wrong. Something _had_ _been_ wrong with this whole thing. He had learned from past experiences that teenagers, no matter if they were younger teens or older, craved privacy. And Dawn had been no exception. Bloody hell, she had been the _rule_.

But something was twisting in his insides about this. It all reeked too much of past excursions with Dawn, none of which had ended all that well. Deciding, for both Dawn's sake and Buffy's, to follow his instincts, he placed his hand on the doorknob and gave it the hardest twirl he had. And it burned white hot. He jumped back, hissing in pain.

"Niblet? Dawn?" he called through the door.

No answer. Why was he not surprised? He thought, for a moment, about ramming the door. But if twirling the doorknob burned him, what would throwing his entire weight and strength into it do? No. Time for the redheaded pagan.

He turned back up the hall, following the voices he could only assume was coming from the large room across the way from the House's entry hall. He burst in without even a knock, causing a whole lot of eyes to turn on him. Giles and Xander both narrowed their gazes instantly, but said nothing as Willow—whose back had been directly across from the door—turned. Her eyes were round as she cocked her head to the side.

"Spike? I didn't even know you were in town," she said, taking a two step stride over to him.

He tugged his leather duster, giving a small huff. "I wasn't until 'bout an hour ago. I think we have a problem."

"If you're talking about Buffy, we already know. That happens to be the problem that we've been working on for the past few hours," Giles sniffed.

"No," Spike drawled. "I was referring to a possible problem with Summers Younger."

"Dawn?" Xander asked.

"What's going on?" Willow put in.

"She told me all about what was going on with Big Sis and said that there was a spell she found that could help."

"She hasn't said anything like that to us," Giles noted.

"That's because she told me that you guys wouldn't even consider it as a possibility because of the danger it proposed, or something like that. So she called me, saying she needed my help in getting the item she needed. Naturally, I said yes."

"Why do I get the feeling that that was a bloody stupid thing to say?" Giles asked.

Spike rolled his eyes. He had died saving Sunnydale alongside Buffy, and the ponce still could not trust him.

"What was the item?" Willow asked before Spike could reply to the ex-Watcher.

"Some crystal doohickey. She called it… the Kwoe Crystal?"

Willow turned her head to the side, muttering the name of the crystal over and over, trying to spark a memory. Xander crossed his arms, his eye darting back and forth between Willow and Giles. And Giles had removed his glasses, wiping them on his shirt.

"Well, I don't get it. The Kwoe Crystal _does_ have some inter-dimensional properties, but that wasn't why the Urd demons coveted it. They coveted it because of its supposed connection to the—"

"Its connection to the Key!" Willow yelled, cutting Giles off and zooming around Spike.

Without question, the group followed after her as she led them straight to Dawn's bedroom door.

"Dawn! Dawn, stop! Dawn, no!" she yelled, stopping short of pounding on the door.

Willow stopped, taking a deep breath. She laid her hand upon the door's surface and muttered a low word. A small click followed, but before she could do anything more, a bright flash of brilliant green light shone out through the cracks all along the door.

"Oh, no," Willow muttered, turning to Spike. "Break it in!"

He did not need telling twice. He threw his entire weight into the door, and it splintered like it was made of hardly nothing. Willow, Xander, and Giles piled in after the vampire. And stopped.

Dawn was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, bollocks," Spike muttered.

#

Darkwing and Buffy both returned to Mindy's last known location to find the girl sitting on the hood of a car that, frankly, had seen better days. The back end of the vehicle, and the cab, had all been crushed in. The hood was the only thing left remotely intact of the once green station wagon. Except for the fires that were flickering and dying all around her, and the trussed up mortals, it was relatively quiet. She slid off as she saw the two approaching, her eyes narrowed. Darkwing stopped just at her, bending over to rest his hands on his knees.

"So, what's up? Was the Hellmouth acting up?" Mindy asked.

"Sort of," Buffy said. "Negaduck and NegaMe were there."

"And?"

Darkwing groaned, leaning up. "And they were doing some sort of spell. By the end of it, all that happened was a stupid piece of ancient paper fell down from nowhere."

Mindy's eyes widened, and she gasped, shoving a hand to her beak.

"Did they get away with it? The paper?" Mindy asked.

Buffy and Darkwing exchanged a looked before turning back to the younger slayer.

"Yeah. Yeah, they did, Mindy," Buffy said.

"What _was_ that paper?" Darkwing asked.

"It… it's the list," she whispered.

Darkwing raised a brow. "A list of what, Min?"

But Mindy shook her head, falling back against the hood of the station wagon. "Not _a_ list. _The_ list… the list of potential slayers."

Buffy immediately bit the inside of her lip, feeling her stomach churn. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out what the plan was from here. After all, she had seen it before.

"Kill them all," she murmured.

"What?" Darkwing said, whirling to look up at her.

"That's the plan, isn't it? That's what NegaMe and Negaduck are going to do. Hunt down all the potential slayers and kill them… finally coming after the current slayer. You."

Mindy's face grew solemn as she nodded. She did not question Buffy's reasoning. Instead, she put her back to them, groaning as she grasped two handfuls of hair on either side of her head.

"The list is mystical. It's tough to get the names off of it, only the names of potentials known currently to the Watcher's Council, who aren't in the care of a Watcher, are visible. They are erased off if they are in the care of, or at least under surveillance by, a Watcher."

"Tough… but not impossible, I'm guessing?" Darkwing asked.

Mindy only nodded. Buffy shook her head, turning and walking a few paces away before coming back.

"I don't get it. Why… why, why, why would you _ever_ hide the list near a Hellmouth?" she asked.

Mindy shrugged. "Made sense to me. After all, wouldn't that be the last place in the world you'd look for a list of girls who might potentially end up kicking the butts of all things supernatural and evil?"

"Can't argue with that," Darkwing sighed, pulling off his hat.

"We have to get that list back. Fast," Mindy said.

"That goes without saying," Buffy said. "But… we don't know what NegaMe and Negaduck are doing now. I mean, you said that it's tough to get the names, but not impossible. What do they need to get the names?"

Mindy bit her bottom beak. "A name. Just one."

Darkwing tugged his hat back atop his head, crossing his arms. "A name?"

"Yeah. They need to acquire a potential that's not under surveillance or in the care of a Watcher. They would use her to get the rest of the names."

"And I'm guessing that they just won't ask nicely?" Darkwing groaned.

"Well, that's okay, then, right? I mean, you said you don't know the name of the potential that's here in St. Canard. If they don't know her, they can't get her."

"That's where we encounter a problem. I lied," Mindy said.

Buffy felt her stomach sink. "What? I'll tell you what, Mindy. If ever there was a time to come completely clean with us, now is it. I've seen what can happen when evil decides to try to off the slayers. It's not pretty… and that's a major understatement."

"I know who the potential is… so does my Watcher. He was called away on other business and sent me here ahead of him to observe her. I was supposed to observe _only_. No moves were supposed to be made until a decision was made."

Darkwing took a single step toward the young slayer.

"Mindy… who is she? Who is the potential?"

For a moment, all Mindy could do was stare.

#

Being stuck at home sucked. But it never sucked as much as it did when you were worried about someone who was not stuck there.

Gosalyn sat, riveted, in front of the television in the living room of the Mallard home. Launchpad had told her to go to bed hours ago, and she had gone when she had been told. But he had said nothing about staying there. As soon as she could hear the snoring of her father's sidekick from the other room, she had snuck back downstairs, flipping the TV's channel to the news, and the volume to low.

The glow of the fires that were engulfing downtown St. Canard—as projected by the screen—reflected off the duckling's face as she sat as close to the set as her eyes would permit. She scanned every corner of the screen, hoping to catch some tiny glimpse of her father or Buffy or Mindy… but she saw none. All she could see was destruction. Villains, some familiar to her and others just nameless thugs, roamed the streets and filled the screens as Tom Lockjaw—from a safely undisclosed location—reported that the St. Canard Prison had been cracked open, letting the dregs of society free to seep out into the streets.

As spirited as Gosalyn was, even she knew that this kind of chaos was out of her league. Maybe, had Buffy had the time to begin her training, but without it… She might as well go out with a bull's eye painted on her.

"Where are you, Dad?" she murmured into the screen.

Unable to take the images anymore, she reached forward and shut the set off. She sighed. Her father was the one and only Darkwing Duck. If anyone could survive this mess, it was him. The thought relaxed her as she took in the sudden quiet of the house. It was one of those silences that she hated, the kind that someone could hear a pin drop in. She closed her eyes, wishing that she could catch the sound of something else, anything else. The creak of a stair, the cracking of a pipe, anything.

When the front door was blasted in by something that could have only been a bazooka, the noise had shocked her into standing without even a conscious thought. She whirled toward the source, waiting for the dust from the debris to settle as she looked for the cause of the attack. When it finally did, she gasped.

"Knock, knock," Negaduck called, moving to stand in the archway between the foyer and the living room.

And behind him, crunching over the splinters of the door and part of the staircase, was NegaBuffy, her lips set in a tiny grin. As soon as she moved to the living room, she locked her eerily green eyes on Gosalyn.

"Gosalyn Mallard of 537 Avian Way… so nice that you're home," she said.

Gosalyn gasped, her eyes wide. Villains in her home… and her without her baseball bat. Should she yell for Launchpad? But then, surely, the pilot had heard the crash. She took a half step backwards as Negaduck and NegaBuffy both took a single step forward. Her beak parted, seconds away from screaming Launchpad's name, when he came barreling down the stairs.

"I'm coming, Gos!" he yelled as soon as he took in the scene around him.

But, no sooner had he stepped off of the stairs, NegaBuffy grinned. The pilot tried to dodge around her, to get at Gosalyn, but she reared back her fist. With a single blow, Launchpad flew backwards, a little ways back up the stairs, and landed—totally knocked out. Negaduck laughed.

"Launchpad!" Gosalyn yelled as the attention turned back to the little duckling.

Her hand reached backwards, feeling for something—anything—that could be used in self defense. Coffee table, book, fake fruit… nothing remotely useful.

Run. That was the only answer. So, she turned on foot, heading for the kitchen. After all, this was _her_ house, _her_ domain. If anyone could duck and run in the Mallard household, it was Gosalyn. Taking a run around the couch—knowing that Negaduck chased after—she hopped the back of it, taking a running leap off the left arm. She swung herself through the archway and thought, for a split second, that she was home free. But, in the blink of an eye, NegaBuffy stood before her, and she smacked right into her too-solid legs. She landed with a murmured, "ow," on her backside and stared up at the vampire, who smirked down upon her.

Get up. Run. Every fiber of her being told her to move, but before she could get the message from her brain to the rest of her body, she felt strong vines wrap, vice-like, around her middle section. She kicked and struggled, looking back and realizing for the first time that the rest of the Fearsome Five had followed the evil doppelgangers inside.

"Let me go!" she screamed, trying to kick at Bushroot—who had her wrapped, literally, in his arms.

"Excellent. Just excellent," NegaBuffy said as she and Negaduck moved, once again, to stand side by side. "This little potential will be of great use to us in getting the names of the rest of her kind."

"Who would've thought it? I've seen this little brat follow Darkwing around… and I never thought she'd be of _this_ much use to me. I mean, as a hostage, sure, but this little scheme of ours is just so… _destructive_ ," Negaduck said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"Catastrophic, really," NegaBuffy grinned. "Come on. The safest place to do this, to ensure no interruption, is the Negaverse. Let's go."

#

Dawn gasped, like emerging from ice cold water, as she sat up, trying to make herself focus. She was not in Cleveland… that was for sure. She shook her head, rubbing her eyes. Everything was just so fuzzy at the moment.

The first thing she registered was the smell. It was dank, and it made her cough. The air felt thick, like it was more than air. And it smelled dirty. When her eyes finally focused, she realized that it looked dirty as well. She shot to her feet, turning in place as she took in her surroundings.

It was tower. She could tell by the view through the high, high windows. And the city beyond those windows looked… decrepit, dirty, and almost dead. But that was not the strangest thing… Everything looked… blocky, not quite real. Almost like what Dawn imaged being transported inside of a cartoon would look like. She turned her attention back to the tower she was inside of.

It was filled, to the brim, with torture devices. A giant table, above which hovered a giant hammer, ready to smash whatever—or whoever—was to be put on the table. Various blades and weapons hung from every wall, and long, cylindrical glass… cages were littered here and there.

Well, obviously the spell she had found had not worked. Instead of transporting the Key outside of her body, she had transported her body somewhere outside of her dimension. Buffy was going to kill her. If they could ever find her.

She took a tentative step forward, eyeing some other strange torture device that summoned the word "medieval" to her mind. She put a hand out to touch it, only to draw back at the last second.

"Who _lives_ here?" she wondered aloud.

Behind her, a door creaked open as she turned. Standing there, dressed in red leather, was her sister… but, deep down, she knew that it was not really her. It was her doppelganger. Her _vampire_ doppelganger. Beside her stood a duck, dressed in red, black, and yellow, grimacing and growling at her.

"I don't know how you got here, girlie," the duck hissed, "but boy did you choose the visit the wrong attraction."

* * *


	14. Piled Higher and Deeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a professor once who was teasing us with the real meanings behind the initials of college degrees. He told us that what a Bachelor's of Science—BS—really meant was… well, you can guess. Masters of Science—MS—really meant "more of the same," and a Ph. D really meant, "Piled higher and deeper." I have no idea why I was thinking of this when I named this chapter, but that's where the title came from.

"Gosalyn! Gosalyn!" Darkwing ran, as soon as his eyes saw the wreckage of his front door.

He bounded through without stopping, Buffy and Mindy at his heels. Finally, he came to a skidding halt right beyond the threshold.

"Gosalyn!" he yelled again, scanning the surrounding area.

His eyes stopped as they fell upon the figure of Launchpad on the stairs. He leapt over the broken stairs, running to his sidekick.

"LP? LP, can you hear me?" he asked, kneeling beside his friend.

Buffy stepped up, crouching beside him. With a groan, Launchpad's eyes flickered open, and Darkwing breathed a sigh of relief.

"DW?" he asked, a little weakly.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's me. Are you all right? Where's Gosalyn?"

"Woozy," Launchpad murmured, as if in answer to Darkwing's first question. Then, his eyes went wide as he sat bolt upright. "It's Negaduck, DW! He took Gos. The Fearsome Five and NegaBuffy, they were here! They are taking her to… to… to the Nega… Negaverse."

With a groan, Launchpad half laid, half fell back. Buffy caught him, laying him back gently. Mindy ran up behind her, pressing two fingers to his throat. After a moment, she sighed.

"He's alive… he just took a bad hit. He'll probably be out for a while," she said.

"Let's take him to Morgana's. We'll regroup there and come up with a plan," Buffy said. "I can carry him."

"No," Darkwing said, standing. "You take him to Morgana's. I'm going to the Negaverse. Whatever it is that Negaduck's got planned, it isn't good. I have to go save her before he… before he hurts her."

Mindy shook her head. "No, Darkwing. Buffy's right. We need a plan."

Darkwing glared at her. "This wouldn't have happened. Not if you had _told_ us."

The younger slayer looked hurt, and Buffy shook her head, standing.

"We aren't doing this. Not now. Mindy was only doing what she thought was right, I'm sure. Bad decisions happen. And we _will_ save Gosalyn. But right now, Darkwing, she's right. We have to get Launchpad to Morgana's and form a plan. Maybe we can get Willow on board to give us a hand."

"No. I have to _save_ her. There's a portal to the Negaverse here, somewhere in St. Canard. I can go through there and get her back."

"And where's the portal at?"

Here, Darkwing stopped, beak half open as if to answer. With a huff, he grimaced.

"It used to be inside of a huge cake at a bakery downtown," he said.

Mindy arched a brow. "What do you mean, used to?"

"Well, I kind of pulled a plug, and it got swallowed into oblivion. Literally on both counts. I really don't even know how Negaduck reopened the tear."

"Well, as evil as he is, I hate to say this, but… Negaduck's not stupid. I would lay big bucks down that that tear isn't where it used to be," Buffy said.

Darkwing collapsed down onto the stairs again, glancing back at his still unconscious sidekick. He removed his hat and rubbed the back of his arm over his eyes.

"I-I am sorry. It's just—"

Buffy laid a hand on his shoulder. "I get it. If we're lucky, you'll get a chance to ask my sister about my breakdowns. But, right now, our best bet is Morgana and Willow. For Gosalyn, and for Launchpad."

"This plan's better than having no plan," Mindy muttered, careful to avert her eyes from Darkwing's.

The Masked Mallard sighed, nodding.

"Let's hurry."

#

"You let us out of this big glass thing or you'll be sorry!" the red-headed duckling yelled, kicking and beating as hard as she could against her round prison.

Behind her, Dawn sat, legs scrunched up and arms crossed, just trying to get a hold of her current situation. She was locked inside one of the cylindrical things with a young duckling that the yellow-clad duck had dragged in with him. She was dressed in a purple, number one jersey and red sneakers. Dawn glanced up at the duckling as she jumped back. The one called Negaduck growled, getting as close as possible to the glass. He leaned back, laughing as NegaBuffy grinned. It was eerie, her resemblance to Dawn's Buffy. So eerie in fact that Dawn found herself closing her eyes against this version.

"I'd calm down, brat. Relax. Get to know your cellie… while you still have time," Negaduck chuckled.

NegaBuffy laid a hand on Negaduck's shoulder, shaking her head.

"You know," she drawled, "we really lucked out, with the other one just _falling_ into our hands like that."

Negaduck stared up at her. "Meaning what?"

"I can see her for what she really is," she whispered.

The duckling looked back as Dawn opened her eyes. Dawn slid herself up the cylinder as Negaduck rolled his eyes.

"I reiterate my original question, chickie."

"She's the Key… the energy that binds all dimensions, made flesh… and _blood_ ," NegaBuffy grinned, looking too much like a snake right before it strikes.

The duckling's eyes narrowed at her as she gasped.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Trouble," Dawn whispered.

"I always like the sound of that," Negaduck said before turning back to NegaBuffy. "But how?"

The vampire said nothing as she turned, walking away from the glass prison. Negaduck growled.

"I _hate_ that," he growled, following after.

The duckling turned fully around now.

"I'm Gosalyn," she said, extending a hand. "What's your name?"

"Dawn," she answered, taking it and shaking it once.

Gosalyn's eyes widened. "Buffy's sister?"

"You know Buffy?" Dawn asked, leaning forward.

"She talks about you all the time. She was really worried about you, you know. She sounded a lot like my dad when he worries about me… In fact, he's probably sounding like that right now."

"Who's your Dad?"

At this, Gosalyn turned back, as if to make sure that no one was listening. When she spoke again, she whispered.

"Darkwing Duck."

Dawn's eyes widened. "I met him! Well, uh, actually, I only _heard_ him, while Willow and I were talking with Buffy at this witch's house."

"Morgana's?"

"Yeah! That was the name!"

"How were you there? I thought it was hard to travel from dimension to dimension?"

"I wasn't, really. Willow has a way to talk, only, through the dimensions. That's how I met your dad."

Gosalyn nodded. Then, with a sigh, she slid down the glass to sit on the hard floor of their prison.

"How long do you think it'll take for Dad and Buffy to save us?" she asked.

Dawn frowned. "Buffy doesn't even know I'm here, I don't think. But, if your dad is with you anything like Buffy is when it comes with me… I wouldn't guess long."

"I hope so. Because I think that, whatever Negaduck has planned for us, it isn't good. Not that it ever is."

Dawn nodded, her gaze drifting to the cauldron several feet across the room where NegaBuffy and Negaduck had gathered.

"I have a feeling that you're right."

#

"So, how do we use that Key to cause chaos?" Negaduck asked as soon as he rejoined NegaBuffy at the very cauldron he had used to cast the spell to bring her into the Negaverse.

"There's a spell, one that will bring down all walls of all dimensions. But, sadly, the cosmos aren't aligned for it."

Negaduck growled. "How does that help us?"

"We can still use her, Negaduck. The downside is that she must remain as she is… alive, and human. Having the Key at one's disposal makes dimensional hoping a much smoother ride."

"Well, I'll take what I can get. What about Darkwing's little brat? What're we doing with her?"

NegaBuffy grinned. "Oh, _that_ is going to be so much fun. First, we set up our spell _here_."

She ran her hands along the edge of the cauldron, walking slowly around to the other side. There, she lifted an ebony-painted, sharpened finger nail to her neck, holding the tip of her right index finger to the left side of her neck.

As she slid it across, she said, "Then, we slit her little throat and let her young blood pour into the cauldron."

She then imitated the dropping of a piece of paper into the cauldron as she finished, "Finally, we drop the list inside the cauldron, and presto! We have a list of yummy victims."

Negaduck grinned a hungry smile. "Excellent. But you know the one thing I don't understand?"

NegaBuffy raised a pale brow. Negaduck jerked a thumb back in the direction of a rough wooden door just off to his right.

"Why in the hell are we keepin' those knobs around?" he said.

"You mean your former companions? Compadres? Chums?" NegaBuffy laughed. Negaduck released a low snarl, and the vampire shrugged, adding, "Honestly, they amuse me. But fear not, _friend_ , we'll dispose of them as soon as the novelty wears off."

#

Megavolt, ear pressed against the door, had to fight the gasp rising up in his throat. How dare he! How dare _they_! After all they had done for them, used them for? And then, to be tossed aside as soon as "the novelty" wore off? Well, he was the master of electricity. He was not any tinker toy to be forgotten once its owner had outgrown it. He whirled back to the room, where Bushroot, Liquidator, and Quackerjack sat around a table that, like many other things her in the Negaverse, had seen better days. He strode over, slamming both of his hands down. Quackerjack huffed, crossing his arms.

"What's the matter, Sparky? Shorting out?" he chuckled.

He then pulled out his banana shaped doll, holding him in front of his beak.

"Yeah," the doll said. "One of your lightbulbs turn you down for a date or something?"

"Stuff it, Banana Brain. Didn't you guys hear that?" Megavolt whispered, looking around.

All shook their heads. Megavolt groaned, leaning in even closer.

"We're _temporary_. First chance they get, they're gonna cap our wires!"

Bushroot stood up, his leaves literally shaking.

"A-a-are you s-s-sure?" he stuttered.

"Heard it with my own two ears, melon-head."

"Tired of being double crossed? Of being bossed around? Why not try… betrayal?" Liquidator said, one finger in the air, very matter-of-factly.

"Betrayal? Oooh, sounds like fun!" Quackerjack said, bouncing out of his chair and landing on his hands and head.

Megavolt let a blue spark shoot from his right hand. "I would rather _roast_ them."

"We wouldn't stand a chance. That NegaBuffy lady… there's more to her than what m-m-meets the eye," Bushroot whispered. "Revenge is out of the question. She would pluck us the first chance she got. And as much as I hate to admit it… she could."

"So betrayal it is!" Quackerjack squealed, causing the other three to shush him. "But how?"

The room went silent. It was not exactly like the four of them—truly wanted criminals—could just walk up to Darkwing and hand him Negaduck. Nor could they go to the police, for very much the same reason… not mention that NegaBuffy would probably just snap the necks of all the do-gooders anyway. Suddenly, Megavolt held one of his lightbulbs over his head, and it lit up.

"I know! Those girls!" he said. "The two that Negaduck and NegaBuffy have locked up!"

"What about them?" Bushroot asked.

"Well, Negaduck wants them around so badly… let's make them _not_ around."

"Kill them?" Quackerjack asked, not one hint of shyness in the prospect of killing two innocent girls.

"No, Negaduck, I think, wants them dead. Not much of a betrayal."

"Let them go?" Bushroot asked.

"You know," a new voice said, causing the Fearsome Four to whirl around to the back side of the room. "This is a pretty risky plan."

Stepping out of the shadows were… four of the strangest bikers that they had ever seen. One was a very fat man, one was a very skinny woman, one was clearly a young boy, and the last… well, looked a lot like Darkwing's sidekick.

"Who are you?" Quackerjack asked.

"We're the NegaGang, and we wanna help you let those girls go," the kid said, swinging a chain very nonchalantly.

"And why would you want to do that?" Megavolt said, leaning in close to them.

"Because we're tired of being the number two gang as long as you four numbskulls are around. You leave the Negaverse with those girls, and we'll give you all the help you need," the fat one huffed.

"And what help would that be, exactly?" Megavolt said, crossing his arms.

"We'll tell you the location of the tear—since you were blindfolded coming in, and be a distraction, if necessary, for Lord Negaduck," the Launchpad look alike growled.

The Fearsome Four exchanged a glance. Then, they looked back at the NegaGang and nodded.

"And what a deal!" Liquidator said.

#

"Launchpad will be fine. He just needs some rest," Morgana said as she reentered her living room.

"I'm glad to hear that," Mindy said.

"Morg, we've got to hurry. Negaduck has Gosalyn… and she's one of these potential slayers… whatever he has planned can't be good," Darkwing said, his hat held, vertically, in his hands as he absentmindedly turned it around by its brim.

Morgana nodded, reaching over to her pedestal and snatching up her spell book. "I'll try a locating spell. I've never tried to use it for a tear between dimensions, but let's hope that it'll work."

"Buffy?" Willow's voice sounded suddenly.

The Chosen One stood, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm here."

"Buffy, Niblet is missing," Spike's voice rang out.

Buffy's eyes widened. "What? Spike, is that you? Dawn's gone?"

"We don't know where, Buffy. It looks like she was trying… that she was trying to separate the Key from herself. She blamed herself for you being zapped to St. Canard. But, the spell… well, no such magic exists as Dawn's situation is truly one of a kind. I think she poofed herself, unintentionally, to another dimension," Willow explained.

"Perfect!" Buffy shouted, throwing up her hands.

She walked over to Morgana's couch and collapsed, leaning an elbow on one arm as she rested her head in her hands. Darkwing sighed, glancing up at the ceiling.

"Negaduck and NegaBuffy have got Gosalyn," Darkwing said.

"Gosalyn?" Spike and Willow questioned.

"Darkwing's daughter," Mindy muttered.

"Oh goddess," Willow said. "What's happened since the last time we spoke?"

Darkwing took a deep breath and caught Willow and Spike up. When he had finished, Spike swore and Willow only sighed.

"I'm going to the other room to try this spell," Morgana said, standing with her book in hand.

She disappeared just as Buffy pulled herself back to her feet.

"It's a mess here, Will. And it's all my fault. Well, me and NegaMe. We've got to put her out of commission, but it seems like I just can't get close enough to stake her. She's… she's too much _like_ me. We fight alike, and, as scary as this may sound, at times I think we even think alike. I've fought a lot of tough things, guys, but she's a challenge. I'm opening the floor for suggestions on what to do. Any thoughts?"

"A good, swift stake comes to mind," Mindy said.

Buffy gave a small laugh. "Oh, believe me, I've got one with her name on it, but I think I just listed that as a problem."

"Well, you could always send the bird back packing to her hometown," Spike said.

"No. I want something more permanent. I can't run the risk that as soon as I'm gone that Negaduck will call her back into this world."

Darkwing groaned, tapping his webbed foot. "If she hurts Gosalyn… I'll find the most horrendous way possible to hurt her."

"A soul!" Willow cried all of a sudden.

"What?" Mindy asked.

Buffy gasped. "You're right!"

"What're you talking about?" Darkwing asked.

"Punishment," Spike said.

"How is a soul punishment?" Mindy said, looking around.

"Vampires don't have souls. That's why we can kill without remorse. They're just a shell of the human they used to be. But, the soul is the conscience. Restore the soul, and all of a sudden, all the things that NegaBuff has done, ever since being a vampire, will come rushing back to her," Spike explained.

"Guilt," Darkwing whispered.

"Beyond compare," Willow said with a note of finality. "Buffy, I still have the spell that the gypsies used to curse Angel with a soul."

Buffy shook her head. "No, Will. That one won't work."

"What? Why?" Darkwing asked.

"Because, that way, the soul can be removed after achieving a moment of true happiness. Something tells me that Negaduck could easily find a way to get NegaBuffy to that. No, it has to be something else. There has to be another way to give a vampire a soul."

"There is," Spike said. "You can fight for it."

Buffy grinned. "Well, that I think I can handle."

"There's a demon, the same one I went to. He was a shaman, had a cave with all sorts of drawings on them… I think they were showing me what was happening while I was out of good ol' SunnyD. I fought through his trials, asking the whole time to be put back the way I was. When I won, he restored my soul, no fine print attached," the disembodied vampire explained.

"You mean Lloyd? I think D'Hoffryn mentioned him to me once," Willow said.

"Yeah, I think—wait. Lurky's name… was _Lloyd_?" Spike asked, chuckling.

"Guys! Not important! Do you know how to contact him?" Buffy asked.

"Shouldn't be too hard. I'd imagine that there would be some sort of magical mumbo-jumbo to do it," Spike said, and Buffy could almost imagine him shrugging.

"Then that's it. We'll do it that way."

"Dark! Dark, I found the tear!" Morgana shouted, running back into the living room. "It's in an old abandoned metal factory downtown."

Darkwing pulled his hat back atop his head. "I'm going after Gosalyn. I'm sorry, Buffy, but I can't help you here. I have to get my daughter back."

"I'll go with you," Mindy said.

Darkwing stared at her. She shrugged.

"It's my fault Gosalyn got taken. It's the least I can do to help get her back."

Buffy nodded. "That's fine. I'll stay here with Morgana, Willow, and Spike and try to find this demon. You guys go and save Gos."

Mindy rested a hand on Darkwing's shoulder. "We'll get her back."

Darkwing nodded, gracing the girl with a small smile. "I know."


	15. For Your Life

As soon as the Ratcatcher was heard zooming away down the street, Buffy sighed. She plopped down in the middle of the living room and pulled a rather overlarge book into her lap. Morgana smiled down at her, a spell book in her lap as well.

"They'll save Gosalyn. And we'll find your sister, Buffy. Don't worry. Being the hero is what my Dark is good at," she said.

"Yeah, everything will be fine," Willow's voice put in.

"Another book, Will," Spike said.

"Nothing in that last one, I gather?" Buffy sighed.

All hands in both dimensions were busying themselves trying to find a way to summon the demon that Spike had fought for his soul. And having his name was doing nothing to help, as most of the other books that referenced him did not know it. But the man he had seen that had revealed the existence of this demon to him had had a spell he had used to bring the demon to the designated meeting place, and that was what the current crack team was trying to find.

Spike sighed as he continued to flip through his new book, the noise trickling through the connection between dimensions. "I know this bloody spell exists."

"We don't doubt it," Willow sing-songed.

"So, are we bringing this demon, once we find this spell, right here? To Morgana's manor?" Buffy asked.

"I thought that that was, indeed, the plan," Spike murmured.

Buffy grinned, looking up at Morgana. "You don't mind if we summon a demon into your living room, do you?"

Morgana laughed, shrugging. "Honestly, Buffy, it wouldn't be any different than holding a family reunion here."

Buffy laughed. "Well, now that we officially have your permission… all we need is this friggin' spell."

"Bloody hell, I found it!" Spike exclaimed.

Buffy's eyes were wide as she glanced up at the ceiling. "You did? Hang on, let me get a piece of paper or something."

She rose to her feet, whirling back and forth in place, in her search for a pen and paper. Morgana sighed and flipped to the very back of her spell book. With a snap of her fingers, an inked, black feather quill appeared in her hand. She placed the tip to the page and glanced upward.

"Okay. Recite the spell… but be careful. We don't want to summon him before we're ready for him."

"It's all right. There a few items, it looks like, that you need for this one. Four newts' eyes, 1 frog's liver, 1 and a quarter goat's tongue, and a hemlock plant," Willow read as Morgana wrote it all down.

"Do we have all of that?" Buffy said, her nose curled up.

"Oh yes. In fact, I just bought a fresh supply of frogs' livers the other day," Morgana nodded. Then, looking back up at the ceiling, she added, "Got it. Read me the spell."

Spike was careful, keeping his voice monotone—just to ere on the side of caution—as he spoke the ancient Latin from his book. Morgana nodded along as she jotted it all down, never once having to refill the ink in her quill. Finally, Spike sighed.

"That's all of it," he said.

"Uh… spell's… up," Willow's voice cut in, going in and out like a bad cellphone connection.

"Willow? Spike? What's going on?" Buffy asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Getting… hard… maintain… spell. Draining. Will… find… Dawn," Willow's voice said once more.

"Careful!" Spike interjected. "Demon… tricky fellow… Careful, Buffy."

"Guys?" Buffy called. "Guys, are you still with us?"

Neither Morgana nor Buffy said anything for a long moment. They got no reply. With a sigh, Buffy turned to the duck-witch.

"Please tell me that we got all the spell," she groaned.

"Yes. It's all here."

Buffy nodded, crossing her arms low across her chest. "Then let's get this party started."

#

Negaduck and NegaBuffy were preoccupied, to say the least. Some of the… _finer_ ingredients to the spell they were about to perform were a little difficult to harvest. In fact, as the Fearsome Four slinked their way into the room in which stood the holding cell for the two girls, the NegaGang had no trouble blocking the view, moving into a line in front of the door once Quackerjack jingled his way through. Negaduck, a little busy trying to chop the legs off a slippery, very much alive toad, had not even noticed the strange move. And neither had NegaBuffy, who was having trouble herself peeling the four cloves of garlic necessary.

Gosalyn looked up as the Fearsome Four stepped up to the glass, before three of them stepped back once again so that Quackerjack, holding a toy block in his right hand, could step closer.

"One side, kiddies," he whispered, waving them to the left.

Gosalyn and Dawn did not need to be told twice as they hugged as closely as they could to the left side of the cylinder. Out of the middle of the circle in the upper case letter P shot a red laser, focused, and Quackerjack moved it in a very large oval against the glass, making it as large as he was tall. Bushroot stepped forth then as the laser shut off, catching the glass as it began to fall, leaving the oval as nothing but a giant hole.

"You're… letting us go?" Dawn said in hushed tones as she ducked under and through the hole. Gosalyn followed right after.

"And we're going with you, back to our dimension," Bushroot nodded.

"Why?" Gosalyn asked, arms crossed. "Why should we trust you?"

"Because we don't want to die, and we thought we'd show Negaduck, once and for all, that we're not to be underestimated," Megavolt said.

"Act now, while supplies last!" Liquidator said, pointing towards the backs of the NegaGang, where it sounded like Negaduck had finally noticed that his minions were acting suspiciously.

"Back door. T-t-this way!" Bush said, pointing the way.

The six of them bolted, making as little noise as possible as they exited out of The Tower and into the dilapidated, doppelganger streets of the Negaverse's St. Canard. Dawn immediately had a coughing fit as soon as she took her first breath of the city's "fresh" air. The smog and fumes were so thick that she felt dizzy and disorientated. Gosalyn, who seemed to be suffering but handling hers a bit better, grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her onward.

"We have to keep going!" she said as a loud growl/scream erupted from the top of The Tower.

"The metal factory on the east side of the city! Hurry!" Bushroot said, placing a hand on each of the girls' shoulders and gently pushing them forward.

The group continued the run through the city, not a citizen in sight to block their path—or to help hide them in a crowd. It was a race against time as they all knew that if anyone knew this city, it was Negaduck. After all, he ruled this world with an iron fist. But they pressed on, zigzagging as much as possible until, finally, they found themselves at the door of the fully operational metal factory. The Fearsome Four, with the help of Dawn and Gosalyn, threw their entire weight into the gigantic doors of the factory building, finally managing to slide them open just enough for them to slip inside.

"There!" Quackerjack said, pointing. "That janitor's closet!"

Dawn and Gosalyn narrowed their eyes, searching for the room in question. Finally, their eyes found it, just across from them along the farthest wall.

"Let's go!" Dawn shouted as, finally, the sounds of Negaduck's motorcycle caught up with them.

The group fled for the door inside, hearing the heavy factory doors being shoved open behind them as soon as they had cleared half the factory.

"I do so love the taste of adrenaline in the blood," NegaBuffy called, her voice echoing over the few running machines and around the factory.

"Keep moving!" Gosalyn urged as Negaduck revved his chainsaw.

The six of them ran right up to the door of the janitor's closet and stopped… just as it opened up before them.

#

_Moments earlier…_

The swirling colors of red, yellow, purple, blue, green, and any other color imaginable made Mindy feel just the tiniest bit nauseous. She turned around, one hand tightly gripping the wooden door.

"I found it, Darkwing!" she shouted.

In all honestly, she had not envisioned the tear being housed behind a janitor's closet. When she had opened the door, she had expected buckets, mops, and cleaning solution. The tear she had actually expected was a literal tear in some wall or something. To have a door open up to a portal between two dimensions was rather unnerving.

Darkwing moved up beside the young slayer, pulling out his gas gun.

"Yeah, that's it. Ready?" he said, turning to the girl.

Mindy's face was pale. "Does it hurt?"

Darkwing's brow lifted. "You fight vampires and demons, and this scares you?"

She shook her head. "No. No. It just… doesn't look inviting. But ready or not… let's go."

Darkwing nodded as Mindy took a deep breath and tossed herself into the doorway. Darkwing followed right after. The two whirled and twirled until, finally, they felt themselves being sucked into another doorway. For a minute, everything was black. But, once everything was clear, they found themselves in a much better version of the metal factory they had left, with Megavolt, Quackerjack, Bushroot, Liquidator, Gosalyn, and another girl that looked as if she might have come from Buffy's world staring down at them. Mindy was the first to recover, jumping to her feet and pulling Darkwing up as well. As soon as the Masked Mallard cleared his head, he looked down.

"Gosalyn?" he asked.

"Darkwing!" she shouted, running and tossing her arms about his waist.

Darkwing hugged her, pulling her behind him as he saw that Negaduck and NegaBuffy, along with the Negaverse counterparts of Herb, Binkie, Honker, and Launchpad, were bearing down upon the group. He turned his attention to four that had been standing with Dawn and Gosalyn.

"Nice to see you guys again. Care to lend us a hand?" he asked.

The four exchanged a glance, before turning back to the Flapping Terror.

"What the heck are you talking about, Dipwing? We're out of here!" Megavolt said, as he and the other three rushed around the heroes.

Darkwing blinked, looking down at Gosalyn. "Those weren't the Friendly Four?"

"Friendly Four? What? No, Dad, they were the Fearsome Four!" Gosalyn said as the four threw themselves into the portal, Liquidator pulling the janitor's door closed behind him.

"Those dweebs have been locked up, doing _hard_ labor for a long time, Darkwing," Negaduck said as he and his gang approached the new arrivals.

"But I don't think we'll give you that luxury, will we, Negaduck?" NegaBuffy grinned, picking her teeth lightly with her thumb nail.

"There's no way that Darkwing's going to let you guys take me and Dawn!" Gosalyn said.

"Dawn?" Darkwing muttered, looking to the girl, who nodded.

Mindy reached forward and pulled Dawn beside of her, giving her a look that seemed to say, "Stay behind me."

The NegaGang, Negaduck, and NegaBuffy collectively chuckled. Negaduck lifted his chainsaw, revving it once for good measure.

"As far as I see it, sweetums, your little group is vastly outnumbered," Negaduck growled.

"I've defeated you before while facing worst odds, Negsy," Darkwing said, leveling his gas gun. "Let's get dangerous."

"Eat chainsaw, do-gooder!"

But as the good guys and the bad guys moved forward to rush one another, Dawn suddenly cried out. All eyes turned to the girl as she clutched her stomach, a green light emanating from her as she fell to her knees.

#

Buffy sat in the middle of a circle of white pillar candles, a small cauldron that reeked to high heaven set in front of her. Morgana had been kind enough to stew the ingredients for her. After all, she may be the slayer, but even her stomach had limits on what it could handle. Now, Morgana stood just beyond the barrier of candles.

"I'll be ready, Buffy, just in case something goes wrong," she said.

Buffy's eyes narrowed as she glanced up at her. "What might go wrong?"

"Oh, no, no, it's nothing. A very, extremely minor chance. It's just that anytime magic is done by someone who has very little magical experience… there's always a chance."

"So nice for everyone to tell me that," Buffy grumbled.

Regardless, she lifted the paper and began to read, raising and lowering her voice like Morgana had shown her moments earlier. She repeated the set of Latin phrases over and over, making sure to say them each time just like the time before. Finally, a gust of cold wind encircled the room, extinguishing the candles. In the blink of an eye, there was no one, and then, in a flash of bright green light, there he was.

The demon stood just inside the barrier, dressed in a brown robe, hiding his face in an attached hood. His arms were crossed, one rested atop the other, across his chest. Buffy stood, tense, and ready for a fight. But when the demon sighed, he did nothing but speak.

"Why have I been summoned?" he asked.

His voice was low, and it sounded like it came from a deep, hollow cave, despite being right in the middle of Macawber Manor. Buffy stood stock still, her face solemn.

"I want access to NegaBuffy's soul. I want it restored," she said.

The demon seemed intrigued by this, and at first did not say anything. Finally, he nodded.

"Understand, I can only give you what you truly want."

Buffy crossed her arms, eyes narrowed. "Uh… yeah. Well, I just told you what I wanted."

"Are you sure that that's it?"

"Pretty damn sure."

"There will be three trials, each more grueling than the last. In the end, your reward will be what you truly want. Do you understand and accept these terms?"

Buffy glanced around the rather thick demon to see that Morgana stood there, eyes wide with a hand rested over her beak. She looked very worried for the slayer. But Buffy only turned back to the demon.

"I accept."

"Very well."

And the world went black

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first a note about this demon. When I first wrote that final scene—and any other mention of this demon previously—I had no idea what his name was. In fact, I was pretty sure that he didn't have a name. Being that it was NaNoWriMo when I wrote this, and that I'm very susceptible to procrastination, I refused to take the time to go double check myself. A little while ago, I decided that, for canon's sake, I better go look. Well, folks, I was wrong. So, if you wonder why the name isn't mentioned that much it simply means that I like the way a line reads as is instead of editing it to make them use the name.


	16. Death at a Factory

Darkwing and Gosalyn acted fast, each taking one of Dawn's arms and pulling her beside a rather oversized machine as gunshots rang out. Mindy had leapt out of the line of fire, stepping forward to engage NegaBuffy in a fight. Darkwing gave Gosalyn a meaningful look, and she nodded as the Mighty Masked Mallard stepped out from behind the machine, crying, "Suck gas, evildoers!"

"Take the freak and the little kid alive! Annihilate the rest!" Negaduck screamed as the pellet that Darkwing fired landed right in the center of the NegaGang and began to expel a rather potent amount of tear gas.

The NegaGang immediately dropped their weapons, coughing and hacking, tears streaming from their eyes as Negaduck growled and made a running jump toward Darkwing. He grabbed his purple-clad double by the shoulders and hurled him, as hard as he could, into the midst of the NegaGang. Darkwing lost no time in disentangling himself from the group, kicking and punching out, knocking them down in all directions as he jumped back in Negaduck's way.

"You aren't getting those kids, Negaduck," he said.

"Watch me," his terrible twin menaced.

Meanwhile, Mindy was ducking, weaving, punching, and kicking as she gave it all she had to keep NegaBuffy separated from her group. The vampire snarled and growled, taking some hits and blocking others as the young slayer seemed successful in backing her away from the rest of the fight. Finally, NegaBuffy caught one hand of the slayer's, pulling her in close.

"Your blood will taste so delicious when this is through!" she snarled.

Mindy pulled her lower body up, landing a hard kick right square in NegaBuffy's chest, breaking her grip and knocking her back.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" she said.

#

Gosalyn peeked around the machine, watching the separate battles and groaning as she saw that the NegaGang was beginning to recover from her father's gas pellet. She pulled herself back around the corner and slid down to kneel beside Dawn, whose eyes were closed. Her breathing was deep and ragged, and she was still squeezing her arm across her stomach as if in a great deal of pain.

"Dawn… Dawn, we might have to move real soon," Gosalyn said.

"It… hurts," Dawn moaned.

Gosalyn patted her arm, nodding her head resolutely. "Don't worry, Dawn. I'll make sure that no one gets you. Or me."

#

It was about time that those idiots were finally recovering, Negaduck thought as he dodged another kick from Darkwing. He returned the favor to his doppelganger by reaching out with his hand in a chopping motion. Darkwing ducked it, the blow going right between the top of his head and his hat, which hung, briefly, in the air before landing back on top of his head. The NegaGang looked fully recovered now, as the four of them began to stalk toward Darkwing, weapons being pulled. Negaduck grinned and jumped out of the way as NegaLaunchpad took aim and fired his bazooka at Darkwing. Darkwing just managed to leap out of the line of fire, just to have little Honker come at him with his favorite chain. Negaduck grinned, casting an eye to the front of the factory where NegaBuffy was busy trying to fend off that other slayer from Darkwing's world.

Well, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

The Mallard Menace backed away as the NegaGang each took turns taking shots at Darkwing. Negaduck turned, casting his eyes about the factory. Those little brats had to be here somewhere. Finally, he caught a flash of red hair as Gosalyn peeked out from behind one of the machines. Giving one more cautionary glance toward his do-gooding doppelganger—seeing that he was indeed a bit too busy with the NegaGang to keep track of him—he made his way over to the machine that hid the children.

He approached the machine slowly, careful to stay out of sight. It was turning out to be a rotten day, and not the kind of rotten that he enjoyed. He did not want to add chasing a kid around a factory to the list of reasons why this night was sucking. He inched up on one side of the machine, listening as he heard the girl trying to coax the freak from the other dimension into waking up. He grinned.

He leapt around the machine as Gosalyn gasped. The girl, to her credit, tried to throw a punch at him, but he easily dodged it, grabbing her arm tightly.

"Gotcha," he said, lifting her off the floor and holding her far enough away so that she could not reach to kick at him.

The kid opened her beak, about to spit some rebellious nonsense at him… when a scream broke her thoughts.

#

All fighting seemed to cease within the factory as the scream echoed around the walls and seemed to be silenced before its time. Darkwing's eyes immediately flew to his daughter, and he gasped, horrified to see her caught in Negaduck's grip. He moved to save her, but stopped as he saw that both Negaduck's eyes and hers were locked on something else. He turned and cried out.

"Mindy!"

Darkwing pushed his way past the NegaGang, who stood there, gawking at the scene. NegaBuffy stood there, triumphantly smiling, her right hand stained in bloody crimson. Mindy's white throat was stained the same color, an ugly cut stretching out across it.

"No!" Darkwing yelled as Mindy's body crumpled under her, hitting the factory floor with a thud.

The next sound Darkwing became aware of was laughter. They were laughing. Not the NegaGang. Not Gosalyn. Not Dawn. And definitely not Mindy. Darkwing rushed to the dead slayer's side, regardless of NegaBuffy. He looked up at the monster, watching her laugh and he registered that the laugh that joined hers was Negaduck's.

He only stared for a moment, horror frozen on his face. The same sentence circling round and round in his mind.

She's just a kid. She's just a kid. She's just a kid.

Mindy's eyes were open, wide, and staring at nothing. The light of life was gone from them. Time seemed to stop. No one was moving. There was only laughter, Negaduck's and NegaBuffy's filling the room. It was wrong. A horrible twisted vision to have of the world.

Suddenly, Gosalyn gasped, deep and hard, like the wind had been knocked from her. Darkwing turned to see Gosalyn curl into a ball in midair, Negaduck still holding her aloft. His diabolical double's eyes turned toward her, as if wondering what it was that she was doing. As quickly and swiftly as the gasping had started, it stopped. Dawn, finally recovered, pulled herself to her feet and stepped out, grasping Gosalyn's other arm, pulling weakly at her.

"Let her go!" Dawn said.

But Gosalyn only grinned. Negaduck's brow lifted as Gosalyn pulled her arm free from Dawn's grasp and landing a sucker punch right in his stomach, doubling him over. He lost his grip, and Gosalyn landed, catlike, on her feet. She turned and steadied Dawn, who was still clearly feeling the effects of whatever it was that had happened to her. And Darkwing shook himself back into the world. He scooped Mindy's body up into his arms, turning and running with all his might.

"The door, girls! Go for it!" he yelled, breaking the barrier of the NegaGang.

Darkwing dared a glance backwards, trying to see if anyone was following. But Negaduck was still collapsed on the floor, and the NegaGang was off their feet from Darkwing's latest barreling through them. NegaBuffy was the only one capable of putting up a chase, but she had not moved. Instead, she looked shocked, rooted and frozen to the spot. Just before Darkwing turned away, she mouthed a single world, her eyes locked on Gosalyn.

"Slayer."

"Go girls!" Darkwing shouted, holding Mindy's limp and lifeless body close as Gosalyn threw open the door to the janitor's closet, jumping through without a second thought.

Dawn followed closely behind, and Darkwing leapt through right after her. When the three, Darkwing still gripping Mindy's form, landed in the run down metal factory of their own St. Canard, he gasped.

"Ratcatcher. Outside. Go," he said.

They lost no time in exiting the building and piling into the motorcycle parked just beyond.

"I can't leave her," Darkwing said as he turned to Dawn, who had taken the seat behind him as Gosalyn piled into the side car.

Dawn held Mindy's body tight against her own, nodding. "I understand."

Darkwing started and revved the motor, speeding off just as Negaduck, NegaBuffy, and the NegaGang piled out of the factory door.

"No!" Negaduck screamed as the Ratcatcher disappeared into the night. 


	17. What a Slayer Wants

When the world reappeared before Buffy's eyes, it was different. It did not have that blocky, cartoony quality to it. In fact, in a vaguely familiar way, it felt like her world… but where she was certainly was not Cleveland.

She was in a cave. The floor beneath her was both rocky and sandy, and yet it still had that dank, dark quality that often came along with her concept of caves. A line of torches lit, without warning, along all the walls of the cave, illuminating primitive cave paintings. It hurt her eyes, and she shielded them for a moment, waiting for them to adjust. Finally, she blinked them open, with them being inexplicably drawn to the very back of the cave. A solid wall with a small, stone dais stood right in front of her, and when she turned to glance behind, she saw, beyond the reach of the torches, nothing but an inky blackness. When her attention returned to the dais, she jumped. The hooded demon—Lloyd—stood there now, his face still hidden all but for his red eyes.

"We're in my dimension, aren't we?" Buffy asked.

"You do not want to stay here, not now. Not until you have corrected the wrongs that you believe you have caused," the demon said in confirmation.

Buffy huffed. "Something like that."

"The trials are thrice and dangerous. Should you win, I shall give you what you truly want. Should you fail… your life will be forfeit. You have agreed to these terms?"

Buffy stood firm, nodding only once. "I'm ready."

"Very well. Let the first trial… begin!"

With that, he vanished, his final word reverberating around the cavern. Buffy turned, as if following the sound, and stopped. Her eyes widened as she took a single step back. Standing before her, just now edging into the light of the torches, was the strangest demon that the Chosen One had ever seen. It was large, and its skin was a rosy pink. It stood almost as tall as the cavern, only inches away from having to stoop to walk. Its arms were overlong and muscular, hanging down like a gorilla's might, but this demon was furless. Its two legs were stretched far, far apart from one another, much like Buffy would image a crab made human would look like. Its torso and face looked almost human, save for one very noticeable thing. The face wielded no mouth. Instead, handing down from the demon's stomach was an overlarge mouth, facing down to the ground. And it looked like it was chewing.

It took a few more steps toward the slayer, its mouth passing over a fairly large rock in its path. But, as soon as the mouth locked around it, a loud crunching issued from it. The demon stepped further, and, much to Buffy's amazement—and disgust—the rock was no more. A tiny vortex of sand below the mouth told her that its eating continued even as she surveyed it.

"You know, I can't imagine that rocks are very low in calories. I bet they're high in fiber, though," she said.

A twinkle in the demon's pale eyes told Buffy that it was smiling at her… the vortex of sand shaped, momentarily, into a U shape. She shook her head.

"Stay away from the mouth. Check," she said, lunging forward.

She did a quick roundhouse to the demon's head, ducking quickly after delivering a quick punch to its sagging stomach/mouth. She groaned to feel the squishy, softness of the flesh as she withdrew her fist. Glancing up, the demon's eyes were twinkling again. It drew back one of its muscled arms and brought it swiftly across her face. Buffy did her best to brace herself against the blow, but she was not going to lie. It hurt. A lot. And it did not help that she landed against her other cheek upside one of the cave's walls. She slid to the floor, resting for only half a second before she rallied herself to her feet.

"Okay… I fell off the horse. Time to get back on," she said, stepping forward once more.

The demon lifted his arm again, but Buffy dove under it, somersaulting up behind it. She put a hard kick into the middle of its back, causing it to stumble for only a moment. It pulled back its left arm, reaching behind itself to grab her. She dodged, ducking and kicking at its right knee. Suddenly, its mouth lurked back, several razor sharp teeth digging into her leg. She cried out, using her uninjured leg to kick it off. She rolled away to safety.

She landed in a crouch near the dais, trying to catch her breath and ignore the sting of the sand in her wound. The demon advanced on her further, moving slow—as slow as a turtle—dragging its mouth along with it. And as it moved, it made no effort to pick up either of its massive arms or mouth. In fact, it almost looked like the mouth was _leading_ the creature.

And then, with a wicked little grin, a thought struck her. Pushing the stinging to the very back of her mind, she made another lunge towards the demon, throwing only a single punch at it. It showed no reaction to the blow, just like before. And, also true to its previous moves, it lifted its right arm, ready to knock the slayer from it. But Buffy grinned, catching its massive fist in both of her arms. With a grunt and a hard pull, she shoved the arm underneath the creature's own mouth.

A sickening crunch filled the cave as the demon bit down into its own arm. Buffy backed away to a safe distance and watched, her stomach lurching, as the it quickly—more quickly than she could have ever imagined—devoured itself. When nothing but the mouth and the head was left, the remains burst into an all-consuming flame, leaving behind nothing but ash.

"Well done."

Buffy turned to see that Lloyd had returned to the dais.

"That demon was a fine example of something you must recognize," he said.

"And what's that?" Buffy snapped.

"When the pursuit of only one goal dominates a person's life, it shall, inevitably, devour you, leaving what is left to burn away."

"You're a literal kind of guy, aren't you?"

"Are you prepared for the next trial, Slayer?"

Buffy glanced down at her bloodied leg. Look back up at him, she gestured to it, saying, "I suppose there isn't a chance you'd heal this in between trials, huh?"

He only stood there, unmoving. Buffy sighed.

"I didn't think so. All right. I'm ready."

"Then let the second trial begin!"

And like the time before, the word echoed around the cave, and the hooded demon vanished. Buffy groaned, turning towards the blackness beyond the torches. She raised her fists, holding them in front of her.

"Let's do this," she sighed.

If the last demon looked like a gluttonous beast, then this one was its polar opposite. Very obviously male, as shown by its 1980's-tight brown pants, he emerged from the shadows shirtless. And, had he been human—without the hellish red skin, the two tiny horns on its head, and the severely pointed chin—Buffy might have swooned. He was _built_ , washboard abs and all.

"Damn," Buffy whispered.

He grinned, showing off pearly white fangs. With a roar that made the whole cave shake, he kicked his legs like a bull's and charged on at Buffy. The slayer planted her feet. He lifted his fist and brought it down upon her, but she duck and dodged that and the other blows that followed. Finally, a brief opening followed, and she took it. She jumped up, putting both of her feet squarely in his chest. But, instead of knocking him back, _she_ was bumped to the ground, landing hard on her rear.

She lost no time in getting back on her feet and throwing another punch. But, before her fist could connect with his face, he caught it. With a chuckled, he tightened his fist around her hand. Buffy cried out, trying with all her strength to pull herself away. Finally, he released her, tossing her back like a rag doll. Her back hit the stone of the dais, hard, and she gasped with the pain.

He took another stomping step toward her, and she kicked up, her foot landing right in his face. It had no effect.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you demons?" she exclaimed, pushing herself back.

With another grin, he reached down, digging his thumb into her leg wound. She cried out, throwing a blind punch at him, which he swatted away like swatting a fly. He reached down, picking up by her throat, and tossed her across the room. She landed in the sand, skidding backwards. She tried to stand, but the pain was too much, almost electric the way it shot through her limbs. He stomped towards her, but Buffy did not even have the will to lift her head to stare at him.

This was it. Game over. She had lost. She had failed Dawn, Gosalyn, Darkwing, everyone. The trials had beaten her.

The demon loomed over her. He bent, reaching down to wrap his meaty hand around her throat once again, but Buffy could not bring herself to do anything. Nothing seemed to work against this one. Then, suddenly, the demon's eyes grew wide, and he stumbled back. With another earsplitting roar, he erupted into flames, until, like the remains of the last demon, nothing but char was left.

Buffy groaned, eyes narrowed in confusion, as she pulled herself to her feet. It took a moment, but she felt herself grow steadier, some of the pain lessening. Lloyd reappeared.

"Another lesson you must learn," he said.

Buffy huffed. "I won? How?"

"Where the blind pursuit of only one goal is disastrous, the absence of _all_ goals makes living an impossible feat."

Buffy shook her head. "You're screwed up."

"It is time you faced the third trial, Slayer. Me."

Buffy blinked, straightening. The hooded demon stepped down from the dais.

"Let us begin," he said.

And this time, the word did not echo.

He moved fast. In the blink of an eye, he vanished, only to reappear behind Buffy. He delivered a hard backhand to her face, sending her spiraling to the ground.

"You know what?" she said, spitting blood. "I'm sick and tired of this crap."

The hooded demon dove down upon her, but she rolled out of his reach, landing on her feet. He lashed out at her, but she ducked under his arm, landing a good, hard sucker punch. The demon fell back with an "oof" and Buffy leapt into the air, landing a kick right to his forehead. He flew onto his back, but rolled out of the way of her stomp. Instead, he caught her leg, pulling her off her feet.

She landed against the ground hard, sand flying into the air around her. The demon threw his arm out, trying to hit her, but she caught it, throwing it back to replace it with her own. Her blow hit him in the face—which, somehow, still remained obscured by his hood. He groaned, and Buffy jumped to her feet.

This was going to end. Now.

She dashed to nearest cavern wall and yanked free the torch she found there. The demon was up on his feet again and in her face. He threw a punch. She ducked. She knocked him back down with the torch. Once he was on the ground, she lifted the wooden handle, and drove it down. But, the hooded demon vanished from behind her blow. She gasped, looking around.

It was several heartbeats before, finally, he reappeared upon the dais. He clapped.

"Congratulations, Slayer. You have passed all three trials. I am impressed."

"Yeah?" Buffy huffed, tossing the torch carelessly to the side. "What's the lesson to this one? Never give up, never surrender?"

She could almost imagine the grin on the demon's hidden face.

"Some lessons you must learn on your own," he said, stepping down from the dais.

Buffy tensed, but he only crossed his arms, intertwining them in the large sleeves of his robes.

"You have passed my trials, now you shall receive what it is you truly want."

Making no threatening moves toward her, he simply stepped as closely as possible to her. Leaning forward, he turned his head ever so slightly in the direction of her ear. And then… he whispered what it was she wanted. 


	18. That Eureka Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I don't outright say it in this chapter, but we all know what caused Dawn's latest attack back in the Negaverse, right?

The Ratcatcher screeched to a halt outside Macawber Manor as Dawn—who was feeling a bit stronger now—and Gosalyn piled out, turning to help Darkwing with Mindy's lifeless form. But Darkwing only shook his head, taking the dead slayer in his arms.

"I've got her," he said, his voice rough, tight.

The girls only nodded as Gosalyn lead the way inside the manor. The duckling did not even bother to knock as she approached the door, simply turning the knob and walking in. They found themselves in Morgana's living room—the normal amazement Gosalyn felt at the ever-changing interior of Morgana's house gone from her. Morgana sat on the long couch, open tomes all around her feet, and a particularly large one lying open in her lap. It took only a moment for her to realize that the three of them, bearing Mindy, had entered her home. She finally looked up, joy coloring her features… until her eyes fell on Mindy in Darkwing's arms.

"There was—" the Masked Mallard began, the words caught in his throat before he could say them.

And there were a million of them. _There was nothing I could do. It happened so fast. She was too young. It was NegaBuffy. It was quick._

_I_ tried.

Morgana stood and rushed to Darkwing, who met her halfway to set Mindy's limp form down upon the couch. Gosalyn stood back with Dawn, whose arms were crossed low across her torso.

"Oh… Mindy," Morgana whispered, laying gentle, sympathetic hands on either of Darkwing's shoulders.

"It was NegaBuffy," Gosalyn said, able to voice the words that Darkwing had already given up on.

He nodded, slowly, in agreement, unable to take his eyes off of the slice of red-stained flesh on Mindy's neck. He clenched his fists and unclenched them. He should cover the wound. It just felt… right. Morgana seemed to read his thoughts because, at the next moment, she conjured a semi-sheer black scarf from then air, gently laying it across the dead slayer's neck. Darkwing's eyes closed. A silent thank you. When he reopened them, the slight, sad smile on Morgana's beak told him that she understood.

"This is all my fault," Dawn whispered, causing all eyes to whirl to her.

"Who are you?" Morgana asked, no judgment in her voice.

"Dawn… Buffy's sister. And it is _not_ your fault, Dawn," Darkwing said, a little too forcefully.

But Dawn shook her head, gripping her arms a little too tight, digging the little bit of fingernail that she managed to keep on each hand into her skin.

"If it wasn't for me… _none_ of this would have happened. If I wasn't the Key…"

"Then it would have still happened," Morgana said, moving to stand beside her. "You can no more control the Key than it can control you. If you had never been made for the Key, this all would've happened anyway."

"It's the Key's fault," Dawn said, sniffling. "And I'm the Key."

"No. You house the Key. That's all there is to it."

Dawn seemed unconvinced, putting her back to the rest of the group and allowing the subject drop. There was a moment of silence amongst the four of them. Then, a loud _pop_ sounded, and Buffy was suddenly standing right before her sister. Dawn's eyes widened, as did Buffy's, as the two saw one another. Buffy lost no time in wrapping her arms around her.

"Dawnie! Dawnie, you're safe! Thank God, you're safe!" she said, burying her face in her shoulder.

"This is all my fault," Dawn repeated to her sister. "All of it. You, Mindy, everything… If I wasn't the Key—"

But Buffy stepped back, her eyes going past her sister. Bringing Dawn with her, unwittingly, she walked toward Mindy's body. She released Dawn only when she reached the couch, bending to take a peek under the scarf. With a deep sigh, Buffy closed her eyes and turned away, dropping the scarf back in place.

"Just like Kendra," Dawn whispered.

Nobody asked who Kendra was. They only stood and stared. Then, as if it had just sunk in, Buffy whirled to her sister.

"You think this is your fault? That you did this?" she asked.

Dawn nodded. "I was hit with another attack at the metal factory, in that other dimension, with the green light coming from me. It was bad this time, worse than the others. I-I couldn't move. If it wasn't for me—"

And again, she was cut off. Buffy's face was hard as she locked eyes with her younger sibling.

"You listen to me, Dawn Summers. None of this, not one _bit_ of this, was your fault. Do you understand me? _None of it_. And I don't want to hear you talking like that again, got it?"

Dawn seemed to shrink, despite being the taller of the two.

"I was trying to separate the Key, Buffy, from me. So I could hide it… so it couldn't hurt anybody anymore," she whispered.

Buffy shook her head. "That was stupid. It would have transported all of us anyway. And I know what you were trying to do. Willow figured it out and told me. I don't want to hear about this being your fault ever again, got it?"

Dawn nodded, her eyes glassy and wet. With a heavy sigh, the Chosen One turned, her eyes falling upon Mindy.

"She deserves a burial. Morgana, do you mind if we bury her on your land?" Buffy asked.

Morgana swallowed deeply but nodded. "Of course not."

"I need a shovel and something to mark her grave. I'd say we'd hold a little ceremony, but I have a feeling that time's not on our side. We'll hold one when it's all over."

Darkwing's eyes narrowed. "You sound experienced in this."

Buffy's own eyes lowered. "Unfortunately, I am."

As soon as the proper supplies were gathered, Buffy, with Darkwing's help, carried Mindy's shroud-covered body—with Morgana having produced the shroud once again out of thin air—out to the backyard. They were gone for an hour before they reentered, both the slayer and the vigilante covered in dirt. Morgana took the shovel from Buffy, gently transporting it away. It was another one of those long moments before anyone spoke. It was almost as if they had all agreed to save this one moment for Mindy, until they could do right by her memory. Finally, Buffy shook her head.

"Catch me up. How did you find Dawn, and what about NegaBuffy and Negaduck and the list?"

"I popped up in the Negaverse when I tried to do that spell," Dawn said, taking a seat on the couch beside Morgana. "Those four guys helped us escape. I think it was some sort of payback."

"The Fearsome Four," Gosalyn said by way of explanation to Buffy. "Four villains that sometimes work with Negaduck."

Darkwing's brow arched. "And they _helped_ you?"

Both girls nodded. Buffy shook her head.

"Well, let's not analyze our blessings too closely. What about the list of potentials from this world?"

"They don't have a known potential anymore that they can do the spell with," Gosalyn said, a bit of pride edging into her voice.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

Darkwing shook his head, groaning. "Gosalyn's a slayer now. It happened when Mindy died."

Buffy's eyes were wide. A tiny grin formed on Gosalyn's beak.

"Guess you have a reason to train me now," she said.

"What do you mean 'now'?" Darkwing asked, leaning in toward his daughter.

Gosalyn blinked, shrugging at her father. "Um… nothing."

Buffy laughed a hollow, mirthless laugh. "Cat's out of the bag. I was going to teach Gosalyn how to fight, Darkwing. I made her the promise early on. But… now she definitely needs to learn. Slayer powers are dangerous when the slayer doesn't know how use them… and there's the added factor that bad guys seem to just find slayers."

Darkwing stood, putting a protective hand on Gosalyn's shoulder.

"Isn't there anything we can do? She's only ten," he said.

"But… what if I want to be a slayer?"

"There may be a way to have your cake and eat it too," Buffy said as both father and daughter turned to stare at her. "In my world, I made many slayers… I shared the power. I-I struggled with whether I should've told Mindy how… but I was too late. I won't make that mistake with you, Gos."

"Many slayers? How?" Darkwing asked, but Morgana stood, holding up a hand.

"I hate to interrupt, but maybe we should cover this a little later. After all, we have a very angry Negaduck and NegaBuffy coming after our world. Buffy, how did the trials go?"

"Trials?" Dawn asked.

"Like the ones Spike went through to get his soul," she said nonchalantly. Turning to the gathered ducks, she shrugged, adding, "I didn't learn how to restore her soul."

Morgana's face fell. "You failed?"

Again, Buffy laughed her mirthless laugh. Waving a dismissive hand, she said, "Oh no. If I had lost, I'd be dead. No. Rather, the demon saw it fit to give me the spell that we've been searching for. The spell to get me and Dawn home."

"Well, that's one problem solved," Darkwing said.

"Yeah, Dad, but not the one we need."

"But… but this could solve our problem too!" Dawn said, standing. "We could send NegaBuffy home with that spell!"

The Chosen One shook her head. "No. If we did that, there would be nothing stopping Negaduck from bringing her right back here. We need to find a more permanent solution. It's either a soul… or I learn how to fight and beat myself."

Dawn sighed, falling back into her seat. A thoughtful moment passed, not one word being spoken. But, suddenly, the silence was broken. A voice, like that of someone speaking into a tin can phone, sounded inside Macawber Manor. Buffy looked to the ceiling, her eyes narrowing.

"Will?" Buffy asked.

"I've only… one shot," Willow's voice, heavily distorted, said.

Everyone exchanged a quick glance before turning skyward again.

"At what?"

But instead of an actual response, the group in the manor only caught snatches of chanting. It went on for only a few moments until, in a little burst of light, a piece of paper—looking singed around the edges—materialized and floated down from the ceiling. Buffy reached up, snatching it. Without bothering to look, she called out to Willow.

"What is this? Willow? You still there?"

No answer. Morgana closed her eyes, concentrating. Finally, she shook her head.

"Willow's no longer connected to our world," she said.

Buffy gazed down at the paper in her hands, uncrumpling it. Her eyes roved the blue-lined paper. After a moment, she grinned.

"What is it?" Gosalyn asked.

"A spell… One that tells us how to restore a soul, no strings attached."


	19. Problem Unsolved

They walked the streets of Darkwing's St. Canard, the NegaGang in tow, with grins on their faces. In their wake, they left pure and utter _destruction_. The NegaGang smashed and crashed everything they could get their dirty hands on, while Negaduck, drawing on an array of weapons pulled from his cape, spared not a thing. Living or not, he cut it down. Beside him, keeping in stride, like leading a gory parade, NegaBuffy drank from every throat she could grasp, using the then dead and dying to smash into the windshields of cars and the display windows of stores.

And the citizens of St. Canard, try as they might, could not run fast enough. And those that did run, NegaBuffy went after, bringing them back into the growing cocoon of chaos. And through it all, accompanying the flames and blood like a demonic orchestra, was the sound of the villains' laughter.

"Now _this_ is the life," Negaduck cackled, slicing a light post in half so that it fell, electricity crackling, across the entire street. The villains were long past it before it fell.

"They brought it on themselves. All of them, all the little slayer-cockroaches that infest this world," NegaBuffy hissed, snapping the neck of the next citizen she grabbed without even bothering to drink.

She threw the body across the road, _through_ a car, and into the brick store front of a pet store.

The NegaGang laughed as they sawed the already destroy car in half. Negaduck grinned.

"Darkwing should have just let us have the brat," he chuckled.

NegaBuffy threw back her head, letting loose a wild roar of maniacal laughter.

"Do you hear that, hero?" she screamed into the night sky—light with the flames they and the other released prisoners had set. "Do you hear? You should have let us _kill_ her! Now, if I can't destroy them with one, little neat spell, I'll bring them to me, one by one, to drown in their own blood! And I'm starting with your _precious, little Gosalyn_!"

Negaduck revved his chainsaw in the air, smiling up at NegaBuffy.

"Have I told you lately that I'm glad I brought you here?"

#

Launchpad had been awake for a total of thirty minutes. And in those thirty minutes, he was pretty sure that he had had his heart stopped and ripped out. Mindy, dead, and little Gos, a slayer like Buffy. Not to mention the appearance of Dawn. He was simply unable to put his shock and horror into words. So, feeling more out of it than he had in his entire life, he simply stood by while the three females left in the manor set up for their spell.

Morgana set the thirteenth candle down, and lit it. Inside the rather wide circle of white pillar candles was every bit of spell ingredient that she would need to restore NegaBuffy's soul. With a shared grimace between the occupants of the room, she stepped over the flickering flames and took a seat in the center of them. Launchpad dared move a little closer to the circle as both Gosalyn and Dawn checked their watches.

"Um, I know I've been out of it for most of this, but… how sure are we of this plan, guys?" he asked.

Morgana, Dawn, and Gosalyn exchanged another look before, finally, Dawn shrugged.

"Well, this helped stop Angel and Spike from doing evil things in our world. Now they fight for us. So…" she said, letting the thought trail off.

Gosalyn's eyes flew back to her watch.

"Dad said to give them thirty minutes before we start the spell."

"And why was that again?" Launchpad asked.

"They need to make sure that Negaduck and his gang don't figure out what we're trying to do, and, you know, try to stop us," Dawn explained.

"So, DW and Buffy are distractions?"

"Right," Morgana said, pulling the paper with the spell written upon it to her.

"And, we're sure that they'll be, you know, okay?"

And other shared look. Morgana sighed.

"Gosalyn, how much longer?" she asked.

"Five more minutes."

"Let's hope this works," Dawn said. "Willow, don't fail us now."

#

Buffy tightened her grip on the seat of the Ratcatcher as Darkwing zoomed around another corner. The sidecar had been left behind at Morgana's, as Darkwing had sheepishly admitted that the motorcycle did gain speed without it. They road with nothing but the roar of the wind in their ears, marveling in quiet disgust as the horror around them. Darkwing's grip on the cycle was like stone, with his eyes set dead ahead. Each dead citizen, each destroyed home and business, doing nothing but spurring him onward.

As for Buffy, it made her sick. This was her fault. All of it. If that demon had not sent her here… if she had never come to St. Canard…

But was that not exactly what she had told her sister, minutes earlier, to stop doing? Blaming herself? Evil happens, ready or not. And she was going to do what she was trained, born, to do.

End it.

"There," Darkwing finally shouted as their adversaries came into view.

The NegaGang, making up the frontline of the villainous army, turned, grinning as the hero and slayer approached. Darkwing slammed on the breaks, with Buffy and himself jumping off soon after. His gas gun was pulled as Buffy tensed.

Negaduck and NegaBuffy made their way to the center of the group, grinning wildly.

"Our guests of honor have arrived," Negaduck said, adding, as an afterthought, "I don't see the super-brat though."

"You won't get her," Darkwing said, taking aim for his diabolical double.

"Oooh, now you've got the right idea, _DW_ ," NegaBuffy laughed.

And the fight began. Quite unwisely, a couple of the NegaGang tried to rush at Buffy, but she dispatched them quickly, dazing them for a little bit. When they finally shook themselves lucid, they changed aim and followed their fellows' and Negaduck's example, rushing at Darkwing.

And with her focus fully set on her do-gooding, slayer counterpart, NegaBuffy ran at her, fangs bared. Buffy dodged the first blow the vampire threw at her, countering the second, but she got in no hits. She dared to spare a glance in Darkwing's direction, making sure that the Masked Mallard was okay. She grinned a little to see that he was holding his own just fine, knocking back anyone of the NegaGang that rushed him, sparing the moments he could to exchange blows with his double.

"You should really focus on me, honey," NegaBuffy hissed, throwing a roundhouse in Buffy's direction.

Buffy ducked, sweeping her leg out to knock her down.

"Who says I'm not?"

There was no way of knowing how long the fight went on. It felt like eternity. It felt like a moment. No ground was gained on either side, despite the numbers. When the NegaGang became too winded to fight, Negaduck stepped in, and when his henchmen regained themselves, he stepped back, letting them fight his battle for him. And, just as it was in the power company, NegaBuffy showed no signs of slowing or tiring. Round and round the blows flew, until, finally, Darkwing and Buffy stood, literally, back to back, surrounded.

"I really wish they would get a move on," Darkwing huffed up at the slayer.

"Ditto," Buffy agreed.

Negaduck cackled. "Aww… are the widdle heroes getting _tired_?"

He sounded a little winded himself, but was definitely doing a better job of hiding it.

"Waiting for reinforcements, huh?" NegaLaunchpad guffawed.

"Won't do ya any good!" the little Negaverse version of Honker said, swinging his chain.

"You're outnumbered, heroes," Negaduck growled, clasping his hands behind his back. "Face facts. You've lost."

At that moment, at that very second, NegaBuffy cried out, clutching her stomach. As she lurched forward, her knees buckling and collapsing to the cracked pavement below her, Buffy grinned.

"Not so much, I think," she said.

The villains' attention had turned to their comrade, along with Darkwing's and Buffy's. The heroes took this element of surprise and put it too good use getting out of the circle of their enemies. NegaBuffy rested a hand on the ground, holding herself up with it, her head bowed forward. When they were facing the baddies once more, Darkwing glanced up at Buffy.

"Is this it? Is this the spell working?" he asked.

"Yeah, this is exactly what happened when it hit Angel," she grinned.

"NegaBuffy, what the heck is going on?" Negaduck asked, deciding keep his distance. Lifting his eyes, he hissed at the do-gooders, "What did you do?"

Before either Buffy or Darkwing could give a witty reply, NegaBuffy lifted her head.

"They restored my soul," she said, her voice soft.

No one spoke as the vampire rose back to her feet, turning to face her slayer counterpart. And when she did, Buffy's smile vanished. NegaBuffy grinned, snake-like, at her.

"My, my, slayer. I really should thank you," she laughed.

"What's going on?" Darkwing asked.

"I… I don't know," Buffy replied, breathless.

NegaBuffy stretched her arms up, as if waking up from a long sleep.

"It's been so _long_. So long since I've felt this part of me. Oooh, and my memories are just _flooding_ back to me."

Still, no one spoke. NegaBuffy laughed.

"I'd forgotten how that had gone," she said, as if watching a television only she could see. "But it's quite vivid now."

"What are you talking about?" Negaduck growled.

NegaBuffy glanced over her shoulder at her partner-in-crime. With a laugh that was simply too girlish to match the sheer malice in her voice, she shrugged.

"I'm talking about my human memories… they'd faded a bit, like an old photograph. But they're back now, just as live and colorful as if they had just happened. I remember it all… I remember learning all I could from my watcher about how to be a slayer… and relishing the warmth of his blood as it spilled from his throat, staining my brand new blouse. Oh, _that's_ right. You see," she said, pausing as Buffy's and Darkwing's eyes grew wide, "I never could quite remember why I stabbed him the extra ten times."

"I don't understand," Buffy breathed. "I don't understand what's happening."

"Dumb little blonde," NegaBuffy said, stepping back to stand beside a wickedly grinning Negaduck, "were you under the delusion that a soul would help me? Oh, honey… a soul does not a good person make. But I should thank you both, actually. It's been so long since I've thought this clearly… since I've seen so many goals within my reach."

A voice echoed inside Buffy's head. Goals. Trials. Her eyes widened.

"He tried to warn me," she whispered, laying a hand on Darkwing's shoulder.

"Who?" Darkwing asked, glancing up at her. "What are you talking about?"

"The demon… the one I fought. He was trying to tell me… to tell me not to do it, not to give back her soul."

NegaBuffy laughed, putting her back to the stunned heroes. She placed a thoughtful finger to her chin. Her eyes fell over Negaduck and his gang like she was a department store clerk taking inventory.

"Time for some spring cleaning. Now that I've finally got my head on straight, we're going to have some changes. I see what you meant earlier, Negaduck. You are _quite_ useful. I see a lot of my human self in you. But your gang…"

She laughed, shaking her head. "I'm afraid they'll have to go."

The NegaGang froze, terror clear on their faces.

"But!" she said brightly. "Since you've been such helpful little worker bees, I'll do you a favor… and, trust me, guys, my mercy is very rare. I'll let you get a head start running for your lives while Negaduck and I finish off our counterparts."

No one moved. The villains seemed just rooted to the spot. She tiptoed over to them, twinkling her fingers at them.

"Go, shoo, flee while you still can. Go!"

Second time was the charm as they dodged around her, Darkwing, and Buffy and ran with all their might up the street and out of sight. Negaduck was grinning so widely now that he looked like a kid in a candy shop.

With a mock-tired sigh, NegaBuffy turned back to the heroes. She glanced down at Negaduck, placing her hands on her hips.

"Let's rid ourselves of these little annoying counterparts, shall we, Negsy?"

Negaduck revved his chainsaw. "With pleasure."

"Oh damn," Buffy breathed.

Darkwing gulped and nodded. "We need a plan B."


	20. Plan B

Something was wrong. All four of them, running on foot for lack of vehicles, could feel it right down to their bones. Morgana knew that the spell had worked, that NegaBuffy had her soul back now. But things were not resolving. Negaduck, with NegaBuffy either choosing to fight for the good guys or just bowing out, should have been an easy beat, seeing as the odds were two to one.

"Oh God," Dawn was breathing heavily, the jogging pace she was keeping along with the three ducks making her huff and puff. "Oh, God."

"It's fine, right? I mean, this should all be over. We can get back to cleaning up the city, right?" Gosalyn said, her question simply put out there, not directed to anyone.

"This place has been _wrecked_ ," Launchpad muttered, his eyes cast around to the broken buildings, cars, bodies, and other debris that littered the streets they traveled.

"Why aren't we just teleporting to them?" Dawn voiced, increasing her speed to match Morgana's.

The witch shook her head. "I don't want to take the chance of teleporting right into the middle of a fight."

Dawn nodded. She had a point, after all. If Darkwing and Buffy were in trouble, they were no good to them dead. That was, if…

Thankfully, that thought was cut short as Gosalyn's sneakers skid to a halt, and the little duckling pointed straight ahead.

"Look who it is!" she cried out.

Coming at them in a dead, panicked run was the NegaGang, fear plastered all over their faces. Without a word passing between them, Morgana, Gosalyn, Dawn, and Launchpad formed a wall, stopping them right in their tracks.

"We gotta get outta here!" the Negaverse version of Launchpad said, causing a fair amount of alarm in Launchpad.

The St. Canard of this universe, they were all sure, could not handle many more doubles.

"Wait," Morgana growled, holding out a hand. "What's happened? What are you running from?"

"Move out of the way!" NegaBinkie said, causing Gosalyn to plant her feet.

"Not likely. Not until you tell us what's going on!" the little duckling demanded.

"She's gone _nuts_! They _both_ have!" NegaHerb cried, giving a worried glance behind.

The four do-gooders exchanged a glance. Finally, Dawn took a single step forward.

"NegaBuffy? What happened? Did anything strange happen?"

"It doesn't matter," NegaHonker gasped, shaking his little head. "You won't be able to stop her. She's going to _kill_ us!"

"Yes, it does!" Dawn said, her words coming out harshly.

"Spill it!" Gosalyn demanded.

NegaLaunchpad shook his head. "Something weird happened. She stooped over, like she was in pain. But, when she rose back up—"

"She was different," NegaHonker finished.

Again, a look was exchanged, and they now shared the NegaGang's look of fear. Dawn was the first to voice it.

"Oh no."

"Out of our way!" NegaHerb shouted, throwing his rotund body forward and knocking Dawn and Launchpad over.

The NegaGang followed after him as they continued their sprint up the street. Gosalyn shook her head, turning to make chase when Morgana placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We have more important things to worry about, Gos!"

Gosalyn looked like she wanted to argue, but only huffed as the group continued their run into downtown St. Canard. All four hearts pounded heart against their owners' chests; no one spoke as the damaged around them grew steadily worse. Finally, as one, they came to stop a few feet from a frightening sight.

Doppelganger versus doppelganger in an epic, bloody battle. Darkwing and Negaduck flew at one another, throwing blows and blocking them. Gosalyn shook her head as she watched her father throw a low, sweeping kick at Negaduck's legs, only to have the Mallard Menace jump vertically, throwing out a closed fist. Darkwing dodged to the right, the blow missing. Darkwing and Negaduck were both reaching into their capes, throwing whatever they had at their look alike.

"It didn't work," Launchpad groaned, drawing all eyes to Buffy and NegaBuffy.

The two women's fight looked more like a really complicated, fierce dance than a fight. Both dodged left, right, kicked, dodged, punched, dodged, landed a blow, dodged the follow-up. The only difference in the two: Buffy the vampire _slayer_ was looking tired.

"It did," Morgana huffed, shaking her head with her beak parted ever so slightly. "I know it did."

"But… but souls are _good_ things… Right?" Gosalyn asked, throwing her eyes up at her companions.

"No," Dawn whispered… her eyes shifting away from her sister to Negaduck. "And we should have known that."

Darkwing managed to grab a hold of Negaduck's shoulders, throwing him down onto the cracked and dirty pavement, only to have the yellow-clad duck to spring back to his feet, landing a kick into the Mighty Mallard's gut. Gosalyn shoved a hand to her beak, taking a slow step forward. Dawn reached out, catching the duckling and pulling her back. Gosalyn glared upward.

"I'm a slayer now. I have to _do_ something!"

"You're an untrained slayer," Dawn argued.

At that moment, Buffy cried out, as the group's eyes flew to her, like spectators at the world's most gruesome tennis match. Buffy was bruised, tired, and bleeding. And her counterpart was showing no signs of wearing out any time soon. Dawn moaned, taking in the scene around her. There were simply too many casualties, more than she had ever known her sister to allow. The bodies were just strewn about the road and sidewalks, some sprawled and others bending in ways that were simply not natural.

"This just has to _stop_ ," she said, pulling Gosalyn back to Morgana and Launchpad.

She lunged forward, several steps away before turning back to the duckling she had just kept from doing the exact same thing she was doing now.

"Dawn!" Gosalyn called, almost indignantly.

"Stay here! I've got field experience!" she shouted as she moved as close as she dared possible to her sister.

Buffy saw her sister as she ducked a punch from NegaBuffy, pushing back her leg as the vampire brought it up toward her side.

"Dawn!" she shouted, landing a rare roundhouse into her counterpart's chest. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Buffy, you have to stop! Look around! This world can't take much more!"

The slayer rolled her eyes as an "oomph" sounded from her left. She glimpsed Darkwing taking a spill onto the left sidewalk, and Negaduck took that moment to laugh, his eyes locked upon the Key.

"That's kind of the point, kid," he chuckled.

Buffy shook her head, tossing NegaBuffy to her right. Darkwing sprang back to his feet, stealing back the evil duck's attention. Buffy huffed, feeling the sweat of her brow rolling down the bridge of her nose. From over her head, a bright flash of light shone, and NegaBuffy flipped nimbly out of its reach. With a guttural growl, she lifted the back end of a broken vehicle and hurled it over Dawn's head. With a squeal, the slayer's sister ducked, whirling around to see Morgana, her arms still raised from the cast spell, leap out of the way of the projectile. Launchpad made a grab for Gosalyn, yanking her to safety as well.

"Stay out of this!" NegaBuffy screeched. "Amateur hour doesn't start until Buffy and Darkwing are _dead_! Then comes slayer number two!"

Buffy's eyes widened as Darkwing managed to call his daughter's name in the midst of his fight, wanting to confirm her safety.

"I'm all right!" she yelled back, again making a move to go to him. It was Morgana that held her back that time.

"Not for long," Negaduck retorted.

Buffy shook her head, slamming her fist right into the blonde vampire's face. Dawn was right. This had to end, and it had to end now. St. Canard would be nothing but rubble if it did not. But she was tiring, and even Negaduck and Darkwing were slowing. Only NegaBuffy was still going strong. With a growl, she threw another kick out at her evil counterpart, only to have it caught and thrown back at her.

"Listen, dominatrix Barbie," she hissed at her red-leather clad look alike, "shots like that wouldn't happen on my turf. You're going to pay for that."

NegaBuffy giggled. "Oh, boohoo. When I'm done breaking every bone in your pathetic little body, Slayer, I'm going to drain you dry. And then, I'm going to take sister dear over here and make her my personal little Key, hopping to every dimension and killing you again and again and again!"

"Not going to happen."

She laughed again. "Oh, that won't happen immediately, true. I'll have to kill Gosalyn and all your other little friends over there first. In fact, I'll probably wait until _after_ I do that to drain you."

"Buffy, what do you want me to do?" Dawn cried out as a series of crashes sounded from behind her.

She yelped and both sisters glanced back to see Launchpad, Gosalyn, and Morgana now pre-occupied with their own little sets of vampires. Dawn shook her head.

"I'm going to contact Willow! There's got to be another spell!"

Spell. The proverbial lightbulb lit over the slayer's head just as Darkwing, crying out as he went, flew right into her arms, knocking them both to the ground.

"Are you all right?" she asked the masked vigilante.

A little cross-eyed, Darkwing nodded. Buffy set the duck back to his feet, grasping him firmly by his shoulders.

"Darkwing, I'm so sorry about all of this, but I just want to thank you. I want to thank you for wanting to help me… for trying to help me," she said, looking right into his eyes.

He blinked, frowning. "I don't like that sound of that.

Buffy grinned. "Just hold him off for a little longer."

With that, she all but shoved Darkwing back into his fight with Negaduck, ducking low as NegaBuffy rushed at her. She sprang up just as the vampire came over her, tossing her into a nearby wall as easily as tossing a pancake.

"Dawn, come back here!" she called.

Dawn, who was busy joining the fray with the others in her efforts to cut a path back to Morgana's manor, nodding, planting a makeshift stake into the heart of an approaching vampire. She tossed the stake to Gosalyn, running over to stand, shoulder to shoulder with her sister.

"When I say 'now,' Dawnie, I want you to grab onto me and hold on with all your might… no matter what," Buffy explained, her eyes glued to the already recuperating vampire.

Confusion colored her face, but Dawn nodded anyway. To the girls' right, Darkwing had just done a similar toss with Negaduck, which was causing the Mallard Menace a bit more time to get back up. Eyes narrowed and gas gun aimed towards his doppelganger, Darkwing shouted, "Buffy, what are you going to do?"

But she did not bother to answer. NegaBuffy rushed at her, and instead of trying to block her attacks, or launch one of her own, she simply shouted, "Now!" and grasped the vampire by both shoulders.

"When in the hell are you doing? Let go of me!" NegaBuffy hissed as Dawn latched on tightly to her sister's arm.

Coming to her as easily as if she had known it all her life, Buffy began to chant the spell the demon had bestowed upon her in return for defeating the trials. NegaBuffy howled and kicked out at her, but Buffy was not to be deterred. She dodged the attempt to head-butt her, and her chanting grew in speed and volume. Dawn, one hand tightening hard around her sister's arm, threatened to fall to her knees. Grimacing and biting down hard on her lip, so much so that she tasted iron, the Key wrapped her free arm around her stomach. Buffy was frowning deeply, but her chanting continued.

"What are you doing?" NegaBuffy howled again.

The sounds of scuffling was being drowned out by the chanting, and Buffy was almost certain that the fight between Darkwing and Negaduck had come to a complete standstill. From between Dawn's fingers spilled a bit of green light. And, hearing Negaduck cry out, "No," Buffy's chanted finished. A bright flash of green light filled her vision, and when it cleared again, the first thing she was immediately aware of was that Dawn and NegaBuffy were still with her.

The second was that Xander, Giles, Spike, and Willow were all standing around her in the sitting room of the Cleveland Slayer House. Buffy let go of her negative counterpart, letting her fall limply to the ground. The vampire's hair messed and sticking out in all directions, she threw her eyes about the room, her face morphed and fangs bared.

"Bitch!" she hissed at Buffy, slowly rising to her feet. "What have you done, you dumb little whore?"

It went without saying that the newest spectators to this row were in a bit of a shell-shock. Dawn had falling into a sitting position on the ground, huffing away her pain. But, even then, she could not help but to grin up at the vampire.

"You're in our house now."

A scream that was more animalistic than one would have thought possible roared from the vampire's mouth as she tensed, ready to pounce. Xander, his single eye blinking, was the first to recover. He whirled to the drawer of the mahogany end table, withdrawing a single wooden stake.

"Buffy, here!" he said, tossing it.

Buffy caught it easily, landing a hard kick into her doppelganger's face. Vampire Buffy reeled back as the slayer whirled the weapon, nimbly, in her hand.

NegaBuffy hissed, glaring. "Who the hell do you think you are? Do you think that this _place_ makes any difference?"

"Who am I? I am the terror that stakes in the night," she said, whirling to land another kick in her chest.

NegaBuffy stumbled back into Spike, who promptly threw her back to the lions.

Another whirl of the stake, followed by another successful blow to the vampire's head, and Buffy continued, "I'm who the boogeyman checks under his bed for."

NegaBuffy lunged, throwing her arm out with every ounce of strength that she had. Buffy whirled, a deadly ballet in motion…

… and planted the stake right into NegaBuffy's heart.

"I'm Buffy, the vampire slayer."

Without another sound, her negative crumbled to dust.

#

It was morning, but inside The Black Room, no one could tell. Willow, Buffy, and Dawn stood close to the "glass" wall that divided them from Darkwing's world.

The scene on the other side had changed, as Morgana, Darkwing, and Gosalyn were outside in Macawber Manor's backyard, standing at Mindy's newly erected tombstone. Buffy crossed her arms, sighing as she did.

"This is a lot easier than Ceiling Chat was," Dawn said soberly, eyeing Willow.

Willow smiled sheepishly. "That's totally true… but this requires a lot of concentration to maintain… and being worried as I was, that wasn't an option. Besides, it takes forever to zone into The Black Room."

Darkwing chuckled once, reaching up and removing his wide hat. "How about we chat after this? She's waited too long."

Everyone agreed. After a single beat of silence, Darkwing spoke again.

"We didn't know Mindy long," he said, his voice solemn as he began his eulogy, "but we were lucky to have had her in the short time that we did. She was a girl with a responsibility that exceeded her age, and with a life that no one should have to lead."

He paused there, daring a glance over at his own slayer-bound daughter and at Buffy, for approval. Buffy nodded once, and he continued.

"But, because she did lead this life, we are all the better for it. She was a noble girl, a strong girl, and she was taken before her time. Mindy, if you're listening… we'll miss you. And I hope… I hope that you can rest now."

The six attendees bowed their heads for a moment. When they lifted again, Darkwing sniffled, and Gosalyn wiped away a tear.

"This can't happen to you," the Masked Mallard said suddenly, firmly tugging his hat back into place.

He stared hard at his daughter as her eyes grew wide.

"But Dad! I _have_ to!"

"You're just a kid!"

"But!"

"They'll take you away," Dawn said from her side of the wall, causing Gosalyn to whirl. Buffy nodded.

"She's right. The watchers will try to take you. And your Dad's right too. I was young when I became the slayer… and so was Mindy. You need to live your life before you just can't," Buffy said.

"You said there was a way she could have her cake and eat it too," Darkwing said. "You never got to tell us."

"There's a weapon. And I'm certain that your world probably has something similar, just from the little similarities that I noticed. Mine was a scythe. It will be a weapon with enormous power that only you, alone, can feel. When you hold it, it will just feel like _yours_. It was created by the slayers, without the knowledge of the watchers. I found mine in a vineyard, so I recommend starting there."

"And the watchers?" Darkwing asked. "This will stop them from taking her."

"That's the trade off. As hard as this will be to hear, Darkwing… Gosalyn won't have a choice when it comes to fighting. But that doesn't mean that she has to fight the big fights now. Find the weapon. When the watchers come, do the spell that makes many slayers. They'll have their hands full, so you can use that to your advantage so that you can train her."

Gosalyn's eyes grew wide. "Dad, training me?"

Buffy grinned slyly. "Yeah, he's not that bad of a fighter."

The Mighty Masked Mallard rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks. So… there's no way around just keeping Gosalyn out of this mess?"

Gosalyn took this opportunity to glare up at her father, and Buffy shook her head.

"Sorry. But this way will give you a bit more control. Trouble finds the slayers. That's one of the many downsides to super powers…. They can be a super pain in the butt. And speaking of pains in the butt, how did it go with Negaduck and the rest of the vampires?"

"I took care of the vampires, with the help of Gosalyn and Launchpad," Morgana put in. "One of those fiends tossed some pretty heavy objects on Launchpad, and he's laying in bed getting some forced bed rest. But he'll be all right."

"And Negaduck was a bit easier when I didn't have the threat of a super-powered vampire looming over my shoulder. He didn't go down without a fight, but I managed to get him locked up nice and tight again. Same with his gang and the other members of the prison break… you know, the ones who survived. In fact, the NegaGang was pretty much scared out of their minds, so that was easier still."

"Darkwing, I'm so sorry. All this mess was my fault. Negaduck wouldn't have even thought about a super-powered, super-bitc… uh, bad person if it hadn't been for me showing up," Buffy groaned.

"It's not like you did it all on purpose… All bad things aside, we're glad to have met you and everyone else."

"Yeah, and I can said with absolute certainty that you guys won't be forgotten," Dawn laughed.

"Um, I hate to cut it short, but this spell is getting rather draining," Willow moaned.

"That's our cue to go," Buffy said. "Tell Launchpad that I'm sorry, and that I'm glad he's okay. And… well, good-bye."

"Don't be a stranger," Morgana said, waving.

Darkwing and Gosalyn joined in the wave, with Gosalyn adding, "I'll be a great slayer, Buffy, and I'll use it to kick some serious vampire butt!"

Buffy laughed. "I know you will, Gos. Bye."

A few moments later, and the wall lost its transparency. The black slithered away from the room, and Buffy sighed, moving to plop down on Willow's jewel-toned bed.

"As crazy as it all was, I'm going to miss them," Buffy said.

"Well, at least we can still check in," Willow said, gesturing to the far wall of the room.

"I know one thing for certain though."

Dawn raised a brow at her sister. "What?"

"I'm never going to be able to look at poultry the same way again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end, folks! Not as much Negaduck as I would have liked, but… Well, that'll get corrected.
> 
> P.S- Did anyone else notice that Negaduck got jipped all the way around in this deal? Also, for those who like timeline fun, did you notice that all these events took place in the course of single evening? Talk about your bad days.
> 
> Also, I'd like to say that I'll be posting a handful of one-shots that take place in this same universe as a part of this collection, and a longer... um, we'll call it an interlude story will be post sometime in July. (I'm completing it as part of a Bang, so I have to wait to post, lol, but it'll have nifty art!)


End file.
